The Velveteen Faunus: Volume 2
by PrometheanA293
Summary: 4 months have passed since the Fall of Beacon. Qrow has dispatched Velvet alone to investigate rumors of an attack being planned against Shade Academy. There, she meets a shadowy gangleader with a murky intent, a twisted idea of peace. Velvet is pushed to the edge, questioning what the truth really is, right & wrong, and why she fights as a Huntress. T for violence & mild language.
1. The Velveteen Faunus Volume 2 Chapter 1

**_PART 1_**

The sun beat down on the sand, giving Velvet reason to wear her lightweight cloak. She bounced up and down on her beast of burden, a large four-legged camel. The small slit over her moist mask allowed her to dart her eyes back and forth across the land and covered the ears that were tied back to her hair. Though she was looking for a certain establishment, all she was able to see was sand. Her mind, in an exhausted attempt to keep herself awake and sane, lest she see a mirage, began to go over the history of the land she was traversing over.

 _The Barren Sea. One of the largest ecosystems on Remnant, even if there isn't much life to speak of. This used to be the bed of the Sanusian Sea. No one knows why, but the ocean receded drastically, leading to another land mass on the southwestern area of the continent. There isn't anything here. The only people crazy enough to live out here are criminals and those who want to exploit the dumber faction of the former. Lovely place._

After several more moments of walking, the sight of Velvet's destination came into view. It was a small, dusty wooden shack hasitly placed next to an oasis. It was, quite literally, a sight for her sore eyes. She snapped on the reins in her hands to command her camel forward. It groaned a cry of annoyance, then did as commanded. It was several minutes before he finally did reach where she had intended to go. Once there, she quickly spotted a small post for which one may tie their animals. Next to these were two black motorcycles, which caught Velvet's mechanically inclined eyes. She shook the pleasure away, reminding herself that she was there for a purpose. Quickly tying the leather straps around the wooden post, she took a deep breath, mentally preparing herself for the potential trap that would be laid inside.

The entrance was a set of double wooden doors with a large space underneath, giving way to the sand that vyed to enter. As she was set to open the door, she saw an elderly woman come into view with an old wooden broom. Her frayed, silver hair and wild eyes gave Velvet reason to become slightly startled. The two stopped dead, eyeing each other. The old woman looked her up and down warily, as if trying to ascertain whether or not Velvet was going to rob the establishment. "You got any weapons on you?" She asked in a raspy voice.

"No." Velvet lied. "I'm just here to meet someone."

The woman squinted, then slowly moved out of the way to allow Velvet passage. Velvet moved forward, not taking her eyes off of the woman. Even as she moved towards the bar at the opposite side of the room, she kept her eye locked in the peripheral edge of her vision.

Velvet completed the short walk, attracting the attention of everyone else in the bar. She paid them no mind, or entertain the question of why they were looking. She took a seat, folding her arms on the bar in front of her. Coming to the realization that she was still wearing her headgear, Velvet made the decision to not take it off. The last thing that she wanted was for someone who was too knowledgeable to make her and cause even more problems than she already had.

She soon attracted the attention of the bartender. He donned black stubble over his chin and upper lip. His graying hairline had since abandoned him, giving the impression of a large forehead. The man scowled, like the older woman had, eyeing her from the waist up. A second later, he reached underneath the table and raised a clear beer glass, slamming it onto the area of the bar in front of Velvet. "What'll it be?"

"Water, please." Velvet asked in a polite tone.

The bartender scoffed and brought a clear pitcher of water from a space underneath the bar on the other side. As he was pouring, he offered a thoughtful, skeptical glance to Velvet. "It's been a long time since I've heard that word in here. I'm going to have to guess that you're not from around these parts. Business or Pleasure?" He joked, picking up a second glass and a rag to wipe it with. Velvet chuckled politley, then grew silent once more.

"Yes." She said ambiguously. The bartender eyed her, then nodded, breaking his gaze to look at the glass. He walked away to tend to some other business that Velvet did not know nor particularly care for.

Velvet raised the glass to eye-level, viewing the contents of the glass. She swirled the water around, intently gazing to test whether or not the water was tainted with poison. Ozpin had trained her to dectect the signs of such tampering by simply looking. After swirling the glass some more, she put her trust in her abilities and placed the glass to her lips.

She remained silent, ignoring the stinging coming from her ears as a result of the bow. Velvet felt it a necessary sacrifice to prevent someone making her out and causing more trouble for her than she already had. Her lip twitched as she mentally ignored the irritation. To take her mind away from it, Velvet analyzed all that she had saw when she had entered the unnamed bar.

 _There's 11 men and women in here. I think I've seen a few of them on some Wanted Posters here and in Vale. Two of them have bags of throwing knives strapped to their hips, four others have pistols. It's a safe bet that the bartender has a gun as well. He couldn't have had a business here this long without it. The other five have blades of some sort, two with short daggers, one with a katana, and the other two have...what were those? I'm not sure of the name. They remind me of the type of blade that Scarlet uses. Hmm. Probably should've found that out before..._ _Cutlass. That's what it was. It's been too long since he and I last talked--wait. No. Focus on the mission at hand. You can reminisce later._

Velvet shook her mind, a desperate attempt to clear her mind of the awful things she was forced to witness as her enemies made their move, an unprecedented one, and brought death and destruction to Beacon Academy. She shook away the sight of Rojo on that night, and replaced it with a resolve of why she had ventured to Vacuo in the first place. Velvet, without the guidance of Professor Ozpin, took it upon herself to gather more information on the enemy. That investigation led to the disocovery of the two-tipped spear that Salem and her faction sought to throw against the world; an attack on two of the three undamaged combat academies.

She learned, from Qrow and Dorian alike, that Ruby, Nora, Jaune, and Ren had taken it upon themselves to travel to Anima in order to prevent the attack on Haven Academy. She had traveled to Sanus herself to handle the second attack, which, in her mind, would prove to be far less troublesome for Salem's forces to execute. As her and Qrow had discussed prior to her departure, it would be almost impossible to garner a large enough response to prevent such an attack in a place where law and order was almost nonexistenet to begin with. Dorian, Qrow and her had discussed, then decided that it would be wisest for Velvet to go to Vacuo and attempt to do the impossible. The two supplied her with 500,000 Lien, carefully instructing her to find any information that she could on what they were up against there, then find a crew willing to aid in her fight. "Don't expect people around there to do it out of the goodness of thier hearts. Even when faced with the total annihalation, they still won't do other people's work for free. That's where the Lien comes in. In the unlikely chance that you can't find anyone willing to do it for free, you have a fallback plan."

That was a small part of the reason that Velvet was in the bar to begin with. She had arranged a discreet meeting with an informant that asked her to only refer to them as 'Foxtail'. They had claimed to have vital information regarding her mission, details that could prove essential to her stopping whatever it was that Salem's forces had in store for Vacuo. Although the risk of this being a big trap was immense, Velvet knew from the start that she would have to take many risks if she wanted to progress in time and stop the destruction of Shade.

"My. This place is looking really...shady. Wouldn't you say?"

Velvet didn't turn her head, but used her peripheral vision once more to lay her sights on the middle-aged man that had sat next to her and used the codeword in the correct fashion. "Thank you for coming to see me. I understand you have something to say?"

The informant chuckled. "The pleasure is all mine. Before we start up with that, I need a drink. Bartender!" He called out. "Dragon's Tongue on the rocks!"

The bartender grunted apathetically, quickly gliding over to the rack of drinks behind him. He swiftly poured the drink to Foxtail's specifications. As he did, he scowled at the customer, looking over to Velvet momnetarily before returning to his work. Velvet cast an uncertain eye over her informant.

He was a scraggly-looking man, with tan skin and a sharp chin that was covered with stubble. He looked extremely thin, his spindly fingers rapping the bar underneath them. He donned a worn orange vest with bright orange fringes. The edges of his denim shorts were in tatters, but he didn't seem to be the type to care very much about such a trivial detail.

"Now that we have that little bit out of the way," he said, taking a shot of his auburn beverage, he looked over to Velvet with a sneer. "we can get down to business. What are you offering for this...valuable info?"

"I don't suppose you'll do it for the good of the planet?" She asked in a semi-joking manner, garnering only the snorting of Foxtail for a response.

"Oh, Sweetheart. You must not know a lot about how things work here. Aside from Shade, the only things that carryany weight around here is blood and money. If you've got none to offer me, then we have nothing to talk about." He began to rise from his seat slowly.

"1,000." She said. With this, Foxtail rested on the seat once more. He broke his gaze from Velvet.

"That's more like it. Now, I happen to have the names of all of the Queen's lieutenants, and all of _their_ little lackeys."

"Old news. I already know about the lieutenants and their subordinates. There's only two to speak of."

"Three." He said, snickering at Velvet's ignorance. Rather than give a reaction, she simply crossed her arms on the bar.

After a small pause, she started the dialogue once more. "I'm listening." Velvet was wary, but she knew not whether she could afford to not follow such a potential lead.

"I'm sure you're familiar with a certain Arthur Watts?"

"You could say that." Velvet said, choosing her words carefully, sure to not give away unnecessary information.

"Good. I don't think I'd consider you worth my time otherwise. Well, he has a little lackey of his own. He's never seen with her, keeping her in the shadows for reasons only the gods know. She's the one pulling the strings for the Queen here in Vacuo. Planning something really big. A lot of big back-alley deals have been happening. They've been hiring an army's worth of thugs and lowlife Huntsmen, Grimm tamers, demolition experts, the works. I'd be a liar if I told you that I was sure what it was exactly they're playing at, but I can tell you that, whatever it is, it's bad news for your people."

 _Bad news for everyone._ Velvet observed, a stern expression coming over her as she was brought into the light about the malicious planning and preparations. _Qrow's going to want to hear this right away._

"What's her name?" Velvet asked almost immediatley after.

Foxtail took another swig of his drink, wiping the excess from his lips. "Dunno."

A wave of annoyance passed through Velvet at the vague and disappointing answer. "What?" She asked in a biting tone. Normally, she would refrain from using such a voice, but the informant had aroused enough in her to give her a reason to momentarily inhibit her moral. It was a rare occurrance that she dreaded, but accepted at the same time when it did happen.

"I only know the 'why'. Only the people on the inside know the 'who'."

Velvet nodded, looking to her hands. "Where are these meetings taking place? Who's harboring them?"

Foxtail shot up two fingers. "One, I don't know. All I know is what I've heard. Two, refer back to my earlier statement. All I know is that it's going on somewhere on Sanus." He chuckled, then took another shot. "Really, you should get some more training on this interrogation stuff. Not very becoming for you to be chasing your tail."

Velvet had to keep herself from hitting Foxtail for that comment, but, once again, she restrained herself. She remained silent, waiting to see what Foxtail would say next. When he began looking around, Velvet felt that the near-fruitless conversation had come to a close. She decided to begin leading to the end. "This doesn't get me any closer to stopping whatever it is that they're planning to do."

He bellowed out in laughter, leaning forward, then turning to Velvet. "Who says that I want you to stop them?" He whispered, swiftly placing a knife tip to Velvet's abdomen, chuckling once more.

Velvet lowered her gaze to the blade, saying nothing immediatley. "That's a poison-tipped blade. If you don't come quietly, then we're going to have some problems. The Queen won't want you if you're scratched, but she'll pay nonetheless."

She took a deep breath. This was a small possibility that she knew could happen from the moment she walked through the door. Qrow and Dorian alike, who had continued her training after Ozpin's demise, taught her that the only people who are sure that they know everything that will happen and when, are the ones lining the ocean floor and cemetery plots. "You're going to want to remove that, and walk away. This is your only chance to do so."

Another cackle from Foxtail. "Oh, sweetheart. Either you're in denial or you're too simple to understand just how bad you're in. I'm not going to let you go. See, there's a Million Lien bounty on your head. Half of that for your corpse. Frankly, I'm fine with either." As a taunt, he began to press the tip in further, threatening to tear her clothes and her skin underneath. Her ears betrayed the sound of everyone else in the bar drawing their weapons.

"I'm not."

Before he could react, Velvet tightly gripped Foxtail's wrist and twisted. He cried out in pain, dropping the blade with a clatter onto the floor. With his free hand, he reared his hand back to strike Velvet. Catching sight of this, she raised her nearest leg and propelled it into Foxtail's abdomen, nearing the point of inflicting serious injury. He flew across the room, as a particular Grimm did all those years ago, slamming into several of his counterparts. Several groans and cries of pain erupted, along with disorientation in the masses. This gave Velvet time to prepare for the inevitable battle to follow. She heard a voice call out from behind her, and saw the bartender rise up from under the bar. Before Velvet could misinterpret, he threw a shotgun to Velvet, and commanded his wife to get behind the bar with him. "Just don't break it. It's a family heirloom."

Velvet nodded, then hopped onto the bar. She flung off her cloak to allow herself more mobility. "Oh, hell!" One of the thugs cried out, pointing an accusatory finger at Velvet. "It's the Maiden! I didn't think _she_ was the one Salem put a bounty out on. Screw this!" The thug quickly holstered her weapon, then ran out the doors.

"No, I'm not a--oh, forget it." Velvet tried to explain, but gave up when they began to fire their guns and throw knives at her. She ran the length of the bar, as three swordsman charged. While dodging bullets, Velvet hopped upwards as the nearest one swiped at her calves. Once she planted her feet, her armored toe guard dug into the aggressor's chin. Wincing in pain, he flew backwards into a table.

"Sorry!" She called out, looking back to the fear-stricken bartenders. Velvet hopped down onto the floor of the bar, intently getting in-between the katana-wielder and the coutillier.

Once th _e_ y were close enough, Velvet raised her own weapon to nose level, thrusting it once in each direction, left and right. The stock and barrel of the gun struck each of her adversaries, sending them clutching at their faces and crumpling to the ground. Her manuever complete, she called out to the bartender. Once he warily slid his head upwards, Velvet tossed the gun back at him. She quickly thanked him, eliciting an odd expression from its recipient.

Velvet turned back to her opponents. _7_ _left. One Dagger-wielders, two with throwing knives, four gunmen._

The gunmen began their assualt once more, firing as their partners threw knives simultaneously. Velvet, thinking on her feet, reached over and exerted great strain to lift a table from the floor with both her hands. She swung it in front of her, taking the brunt of the knives and bullets' damage. She rotated once more, throwing it into the crowd of seven that were clumped together. One of the would-be assailants dove out of the way a split second before the table hit its mark.

Wasting no time, she scooped up one of the discarded pistols as Velvet ran at her. A look of desperation came over her goggled eyes as she raised the pistol and unloaded the clip in Velvet's direction. Velvet leapt in the air and planted her feet on a nearby wall. Leaping towards her opponent, Velvet swifly used her leg to brush the knife out of the leather-gloved hand and into the wall Velvet had just employed. On her feet again, Velvet threw a punch towards the girl. She swiped away Velvet's hand, giving Velvet the need to swing her other fist around. The same result ensued, allowing the girl to go on the offensive. She offered a swift array of punches and kicks, leaping through the air.

Velvet found each strike more dificult to block than the last. It had been quite some time since she was forced to go up against an opponent. She knew that, if she hoped to survive, the fight needed to be ended quickly.

Quickly, gaining a better understanding of the patterns of the other fighter, she awaited the moment to properly put a counterstrike into place. As the girl was set to drive Velvet's back into the bar, she leapt into the air to deliver a helicopter kick to Velvet's temple. In response, Velvet lifted her hands upwards, clutching the girl's ankles. For a split-second, Velvet could see the manifestation of the dread that filled the other girl as Velvet wasted no time in throwing her down to the ground.

The dagger-wielder, battered as a layer of sand once on the floor uprooted from the battle came to rest upon her, gazed up at Velvet from her back. Without saying a word, she clutched at a hidden pouch on her belt-loop underneath the loose, olive-green poncho that covered her down to her upper thighs. Once Velvet caught sight of the glint of steel, she kicked the blade away, sending it skittering across the floor. To prepare against any other countermeasures, Velvet slammed her heel, with the smallest amount of restraint, ensuring that she didn't kill the misguided girl who had picked her for an adversary.

The couple who kept the establsihment in a relatively running order slowly popped their heads up over the edge of the bar, eyeing the wreckage around the area. Velvet expected them to be upset for her wrecking of their tavern, but, they reacted in the opposite instead. "Thank you so much, dear. After all the other lowlives around these parts hear about what you did, there's no way that they'll think to cause trouble here again. What can we ever do to repay you? Anything." The old woman crooned, her husband standing by her, silently agreeing with a nod.

"Oh, that's not necessary, ma'am. It's just who I am." Velvet said with a grin as she waved off the couple's offer.

"And, just," The old man began, "Who are you?"

Velvet swelled with pride as she took a small pause to offer a reply to the elderly man's question. She turned to them, cocking her hips and placing her hands on them.

"I'm a Huntress."

 ** _Well, Huntsmen and Huntresses, it's here, as promised! The next installment in The Velveteen Faunus Saga. Hope you all enjoy it!_**


	2. The Velveteen Faunus Volume 2, Chapter 2

Velvet was upon her camel once more, her cloak restored as a countermeasure against the sun beating down upon her head. She was several meters from the bar where she had fended off nearly a dozen people who wanted nothing more than to bring her in to Salem for a hefty Lien prize. As a reward, and after thier great insistence, the couple had provided Velvet with an address, scrawled on a grimy napkin. She slipped out of her pocket once more, gazing at the dark ink contrasting the white and brown backdrop.

"Some of the people that come through here get so drunk that they happen to let a few things slip. I'm of no importance to them, nor is my wife here. We're nothing more than the old coots who just clean up their messes and provide them the tools to make said messes. About a week ago, I overheard someone talking to their associate. They were talking about a large shipment of Dust that had been smuggled into the borders. It's in a nearby industrial town, Haqadan. I'm sure that it shouldn't be too far of a ride from here. Only about 3 hours on that camel of yours." The old man had said as he produced a slip of paper from his pocket and delicately placed it in Velvet's expectant hand. She quickly gazed at it, then slipped it in her own pocket, immediately thanking the couple.

"It's No--"

"You really want to show us thanks?" The old woman began, cutting off whatever it was that the man was beginning to say. "You find whoever's doing this, find what they're going to do, and stop it. The kids at Shade are the most fortunate ones in this kingdom. They don't need to be thrust into whatever it is that's going on. It's despicable that they're even _thinking_ of targeting children. Make us a promise, dear. You find whoever is behind this, behind the attack on Beacon, and you make them pay."

Velvet hesiated, unsure if she should make such a promise, especially if she could not keep it. In that moment, she decided that, no matter who she was fighting for, what they wanted her to fight for, she would do this for one reason. She would do it for the same reason that she wanted to be a Huntress in the first place. She wanted to rid the world of evil, she wanted to help those who couldn't defend themselves. Whether Ozpin had lied to her or not about the true motives behind this fight, Velvet was certain of one thing. If she didn't stand between the people of this Kingdom and Salem's forces of darkness, then many innocents would die. It was a possibility that she would use her dying breath to ensure such designs didn't come to fruition.

She then thought about the personal vendetta that she had to settle with her enemies. Velvet allowed her mind to drift back to the night she was merely a second-year student, attending the Vytal Festival. Keeping her feelings of animosity in check so as to not attract the creatures of Grimm, she filled her mind with the thought of friends and loved ones who were slaughtered on that night, all as part of Salem's plan to destroy the peace in the world. It was the one reason why Velvet often had vowed to herself that, while she was under an oath of not taking life, Salem and her faction would be the ones she would gladly use to break it. "You have my word." She said. "I'll make sure that they feel the pain that the rest of us have felt. They won't escape." The anger in Velvet's voice frightened her, the fact that her enemies had such an influence on her, but she brushed it off. Realizing that she had turned from the couple to the door, she turned to face her companions once more. "Are you sure that you'll be alright? With everything that happened, the Grimm are sure to be here soon."

The elderly bartender hefted his shotgun over his shoulder, then hugged his wife with his free hand. "Now, don't you worry about us, hon. If they come, it won't be our first tussle. We know what to do. You've got much bigger problems to deal with than worrying about the well-being of a couple codgers. Oh, before you go on your way," The old man reached underneath the bar and produced a water bottle, which he lightly tossed at Velvet. "It's not much, but it should hold you over on your way to Haqadan. Another small way of showing you our thanks for what you did here today.

Once again, she thanked the couple. She briskly walked out of the door, ensuring that her cloak was wrapped around her shoulders before she left. The hot sun bearing down on her again, Velvet wasted no time in unhitching her camel, hopping onto the back of the animal. She turned the animal in the direction of Haqadan, then snapped on the reins to send the camel forward.

For the hour that followed, Velvet constantly turned her head to look back at the small bar. She kept her ears trained for any type of noises that would indicate that there was trouble. As long as she was within earshot, there was nothing to hear. Velvet refused to stop looking back until the dunes of the Sanusian Desert blocked her vision. When this came to pass, Velvet could do nothing more than keep her eyes forward, for the moment to look back had passed.

And so it was for another hour. That was when she heard something unexpected.

 _What is that? It reminds me of Ein in our backyard._

Velvet cocked her head back once moreHer ears were almost immediately filled with the sound of an animal digging through the sand, advancing quickly on her position. She stopped the advance of her animal, hopping off onto the hot sand. She looked towards where the sound was originating, but could see no visual indication of what was causing it. Her eyes narrowed with suspicion, resolving to not move until she uncovered what the entity was.

As if on cue, a large mole-like creature burst from the ground, leaping high into the air. Casting a shadow, it became spread-eagled and attempted to land on Velvet. She dove out of the way, a cloud of sand blocking her vision as the Grimm plopped its underside onto the ground with a prominent thud. Velvet rolled, swiftly regaining her footing as she desperately attempted to locate her new enemy. A shot of stress shot through her as she ran the facts of this Sanusian Grimm in her mind, therefore gaining a better knowledge of what it was that she was up against.

 _Talpidus. That's evident by the sheer size. 3 meters long, and 1 meter wide. Armor along the back and face. I see that it's an experienced killer. It's front teeth aren't overgrown, so he's probably made himself a meal out of more than a few unfortunate souls. It's claws are quite large, but that's no surprise. They have to be if they want to make it very far burrowing. As it's been rumored, this Talpidus has almost no eyesight. It's snout appears to take up over half of its face, likely the most powerful sense it uses.The eyes are nonexistent. The entire superior side of its head, save for the large snout, is proceted by a large sheet of white armor. Where there should be eyes, there are only red markings._

Velvet's analysis was interrupted as the beast dove at her through the cloud, swiping at her with its oversized claws. It attempted to roar, but could only produce a faint screeching sound. This still served to irritate Velvet, almost disorienting her to the point of immobilization. She shook the ringing from her ears and turned to backflip out of harm's way.

The beast turned to face Velvet once more as the dust cleared. It growled, then leapt up in the air once more, slightly less so than before. Rather than attack Velvet, it performed a clawing motion midair, continuing as it began to burrow into the ground. In a matter of seconds, the Grimm was gone.

Staying on her guard, Velvet swiftly turned her head in each direction. She was tracking the sound of the Tapidus' digging, but was left in awe as the sound disappeared completely. A small pang of anxiety hit her chest as she realized that the Grimm was able to cloak its movements. On edge, Velvet kept her eyes on the ground, controlling her breath and staying still so as to not give the creature's superior hearing anything to track from underground. The air became deathly silent, the breeze that was once there growing still.

The Talpidus burst from the ground directly underneath Velvet. There was nothing that Velvet could do other than jump directly upwards. Threatening to be impaled by a pair of teeth at the forefront of the beast's mouth, Velvet was strongly tempted to use her Semblance to get herself out. Letting her training silence the urges, she planted her feet on the prominent teeth and leapt upwards. The Grimm awaited her return, as Velvet had anticipated. Once she was close enough, she grabbed onto the nose of the Talpidus and arched her back. Once her trajectory was in order, Velvet flipped herself and tightly gripped the face armor of the Grimm.

Filled with a controlled rage, Velvet brought her fist down onto the armor of the Talpidus. It cried out in pain, rocking to and fro, trying to buck Velvet off. Velvet held on, however, knowing letting go would certainly mean death.

Although her hand stung from the strike, Velvet brought her fist down once more, eliciting another cry from the Grimm. She powered through the pain, bringing her aching fist down again and again upon the near-impenetrable wall around the beast's face. No matter how much it rolled about, Velvet refused to cease her attack.

After several more seconds of punching the armor, the Talpidus grew desperate. It leapt up in the air, making a clawing motion in the air. Velvet made the split-second decision to hold on, even as the Grimm prepared to burrow.

A sea of sand slammed into her back as the Grimm entered its subterranean domain. Velvet tightly closed her eyes and mouth, pulling her arm back against the flowing tide of sand against her. She powered through, striking until her hand became numb. The thought came to mind that she may have broken something, but she pushed the thought away, reminding herself of a saying that her father would often tell her.

 _You'd know if it was broken._

Seeking a new defensive tactic, the Grimm dove out of the sand, soaring high into the air. Unsure whether or not she would be able to withstand a second bombardment of sand, Velvet began thrusting her fist into the armor plating even harder. Just as she became apprehensive as to the exact effiecincy of the plan, she heard a loud crack from underneath her. She opened her eyes to see that she had caused a large fissure that ran from one end of the armor to the other.

Rejuvenated, despite the injury sustained to herself, Velvet quickly switched hands, giving her original assualt arm the task of holding on to the armor while her fresh hand went on the offensive. She attacked even harder than she had with the previous arm, pushing away the fear that she may injure herself past the point of usefullness.

Velvet took a deep breath, then reared her hand back for another, end-all strike. She decided, should her attack fail to down the beast, she would move to another form of attack. She let out a cry of angst, then threw her fist into the head of the Talpidus.

The strike had enough force to send a shockwave around her and the Grimm. The velocity sent Velvet flying backwards, from which she quickly recovered. She landed on her healthy hand and feet in a crouch position. The Talpidus had been thrown into the ground, sending another cloud of sand into the air.

Heavily breathing, Velvet eyed the cloud, looking to see if the creature was still able to fight. As soon as the air cleared, she was apalled to see that the beast was, in fact, still standing. Velvet placed herself in her fighting stance once more, her shoulder stinging. Though she was in no shape to, Velvet would not stop until the creature was dead and dissolved.

The Talpidus lugged forward half a meter, then stopped. Its armor split in two, falling off of its face. It shrieked in pain, which Velvet was able to put out of mind. She ran forward, leaping into the air when she was close enough. She led with her right leg, using it for support as she slammed the other square into the forehead of the Grimm.

She propelled herself off, landing square on her feet. Velvet placed herself in a defensive position, then watched as the rear end of the Grimm exploded as a direct result of the force exerted through it. It slunk to the ground, almost immediatley dissolving. Velvet turned to face where she had left her camel.

She sighed aloud as she caught sight of the beast on its side as well. She jogged over, and quickly checked the pulse of the animal.

 _Poor thing. Must have been caught in the crossfire. An unnecessary loss._

Velvet felt chagrin, not only because the camel had been killed, but also because she would have to walk the remaining distance to Haqadan. She ran to the tallest dune nearby and scoped out the area. On the far horizon to the north, she could see several tall buildings dotting the dunes. She was sure that it was going to be a long day, and complaining would only bring about more trouble.

 _Hopefully, whatever is waiting for me there is worth the trouble. First thing, find an inn._

It took Velvet an additional two hours to reach the city. Her legs ached, and she was very weary. Upon reaching the entrance to the village walls, she was met with a spear to the face. A gruff, bristly man with bright green scales over his cheeks who looked to be Velvet's junior by one or two years brandished the weapon. Initially threatened, Velvet rationalized that the man was only doing what he was ordered to. "You. State your business here." He demanded bluntly.

"I'm here to sightsee. I heard this place has an amazing commercial district." She fibbed.

The guard cocked his head, scowling. It was as if he was trying to see some physical manifestation that would alert him of whether or not Velvet was lying. When he could find none, he simply went on with what she assumed was his routine interrogation. "State your name, occupation, and place of origin."

"Velv Scarlatini. Huntress from the city of Vale." She partially fibbed once more. Lying was not her style, but she couldn't run the risk of the wrong people being alerted to her presence. Her face was still concealed by the hood, with two bumps on the back of the hood as a result of the protruding ears that threatened to burst through, giving her protection from being made in that manner.

As soon as the boy interpreted the words 'Huntress' and 'Vale' in the same sentence, his eyes immediatley lit up. "Whoa. Vale? Wait. Does that mean that you were at--well, did you see--"

"Yes. I was there." Velvet stated matter-of-factly, not wanting to dwell on the subject out of fear of breaking down into hysterics in front of a perfect stranger. The guard offered a quiet 'wow', almost immediatley apologizing for the cold way that he had recieved her. "Think nothing of it. You were only doing your job."

The boy, gawking at Velvet, moved his spear away and allowed her passage into the city. "T--thank you." Velvet turned abruptly to further understand what the boy had meant by that. When he comprehended Velvet's confusion, he continued. "I never lost hope. I know that Huntsmen, especially the ones from places like Atlas and Vale, aren't the way that they were portrayed on TV during the Vytal Games. I heard the stories of what your kind did. You know, my uncle was there. He was the one who told me about everything that happened. He said that he was saved by a Faunus girl with rabbit ears. She had just lost a friend, yet she still had enough heart to run to my uncle's aid when he needed it. I'm not sure if you know her or not."

Velvet was taken aback, distinctly recalling who it was that the boy was referring to. She was lost in shock at the hand that Fate had dealt her. "Would you mind doing me a favor?" He continued.

"Of--of course." Velvet timidly responded.

"When you get back to Vale, would you mind finding that Faunus girl and sending her this way? I know it's a long shot, but I would like to meet her and personally thank her for what she did. If it wasn't for her, I would have no one to take care of me. He's the only family I have left, you know? I'm sorry," He said, chuckling nervously. "I'm rambling. If you could try, though, I'd really appreciate it."

Velvet slowly nodded, still feeling the warmth of the impact she had made and he shock that she was able to see the direct result of such an impact. Soon after, she felt the pain of recalling that instance once again. "I'm sure that she's not that far off." After he disclosed the location of the village inn (appropriatley named 'The Sandman's Palace'), Velvet waved and walked in the direction that the guard had pointed out.

The Inn was a large, V-shaped building, made with straw thatching on the roof and adobe for walls. There was no door to the entrance, only a large and narrow hole in the wall that she walked through to get inside. Velvet saw a tan woman with a long, dirty-blonde ponytail. her egg-shell white work shirt had the long sleeves rolled upwards, revealing a pair of muscular, scarred forearms and lower biceps that contained bulging veins.

Velvet was intimidated, reminding herself that the woman was not an opponent, but an eager businesswoman.

"Hi, there! Welcome to 'The Sandman's Palace', where your comfort is a dream come true. I'm Caylee. How can I help you, Mis...ter? Or Miss? I'm sorry. You just have a very feminine figure."

Velvet couldn't help but giggle. "It's 'Miss'." She said, her smile protruding from the shadows of the cloak.

Soon after, the two made arrangements for Velvet's stay. They then shook hands, and Caylee produced a map of the inn, giving Velvet simple directions of how to locate her room. Velvet thanked her, then completed the transaction of her own personal Lien into the Innkeepers hands.

It didn't take long for her to reserve a room. The late afternoon sun was descending, much to Velvet's pleasure, and the feeling of the room key in her hand was a conduit for her to exert her need to fidget upon. She swiftly walked around the Inn in the direction that Caylee had instructed. Once she found the door, Velvet wasted no time in opening it and rushing inside.

The room was near her expectations. There were no electronics to be found aside from a small lamp on a bedside endtable. There was only one bed in the center of the room. It was but a stained matresse that was once a shade of white covered with a disheveled blue blanket with two pillows to match, housed on an old, but ornate wooden bedframe. Velvet was intrigued by the intricate carvings, but felt that she was much too tired to fully appreciate them. To her immediate left was the door to what she assumed was the lavatory. Directly in front of her was a surprisingly clean closet. Curious to see whether or not the inside was just as well-kempt, Velvet warily opened the door.

As soon as she did, a small mouse scurried out from the floor of the closet in between her legs. Velvet couldn't help but yelp out as the mouse ran immediately for the door, obviously wanting out of the room. It did not pain Velvet in the slightest to open the door and abide by the creature's wishes. She watched with relief as the animal ran out and down the hall. She closed the door once more, leaning her back against the door and sliding to the wooden floor.

"Here you are," She told herself. "a trained Huntress, in a foreign land, trying to stop a corrupt organization bent on the destruction of the world, and you get frightened by a mouse?" She chuckled at the sound of the absurdity coming from her mouth. She couldn't believe the sound of it, nor was she in the energy field to discuss it further with her inner self.

In lieu of her preparedness for her task. Velvet completed her nightly rituals (the ones she could do comfortably while on a mission), and slipped onto the mattress and under the blanket. She couldn't help but notice the slightly musty smell being emitted from the bed, but she chose to ignore it in exchange for a night of relatively peaceful rest. The bed squeaked with every toss and turn, much like her bed in Valkryite. Try as she might, Velvet had much trouble going to sleep.

Her mind veered to that boy at the gate once more. Velvet, in her delusional state of weariness, went back to that night one more time. She could still hear Rojo's voice near the end of that terrible, seemingly endless night.

 _Hey, now. What are those tears for, Velvet?_


	3. The Velveteen Faunus Vol 2 Chapter 3

" _Velvet! We need to go! You need to leave him behind. There's nothing that you can do for him now!"_ _In an instant, Velvet was back on the fairgrounds of the Vytal Festival. The carnage was as fresh as it was then. Bodies lined the grass, and an army of Grimm ran rampant around them. Team CFVY as well as Team FIRE were fighting to quell the disaster side-by-side._ _The two were running , saving whoever they could, until the latter was beckoned to establish a safe-zone with Professor Goodwitch in the courtyard of Beacon._ _This was not the case with Rojo, however, who refused to leave Velvet's side._ _"Remember what I told you? If we want to stay and fight with you, then by the gods, there's nothing that you can say to convince me of otherwise. The guys can handle themselves without me."_

 _As it was on that night, Velvet said nothing to Rojo. He interpreted as a submission to his demands, and drew his flaming sword. He looked at Velvet, and she at him. Coco called out to them. "Alright, Red. You wanna stay here and fight? Then you get to be an honorary member of CFVY. Let's circle back to the courtyard. We can see if they need any help protecting the transports out of here. You good for a little action?" Coco asked Rojo._ _He cocked his head her, smiling the grin that came to light when he was offered the chance to be led on the field of battle or simply fight the good fight. He brandished his flaming blade. "I wouldn't have it any other way."_

 _It wasn't long until they encountered heavy resistance. The quintet came across an armed guard of 5 White Fang members who were all brandishing identical swords, a look of maliciousness about them. Velvet didn't need to be told that they were out for blood. Their white uniforms were splashed with bloodstains that did not appear to be their own. Velvet visibly shuddered as she imagined how they came to be._

 _She eyed her team, who were doing the same with each other. Rojo placed a hand on her shoulder and leaned in. "Hey. Are you good for this? I can always convince the others to let you hold back. I can pinch-hit."_

 _Velvet shook her head in the negative. "No. I can do this. I won't let these people intimidate me anymore. I'm not the same scared fugitive I was then."_

 _Rojo nodded. "Coco, how are we gonna do this?"_ _"I can lay covering fire, disorient them. You and Yatsu can be the first wave. Run in, take out as many as you can. Velvet and Fox are cleanup. Make sure that none of them have any fight left in them."_

 _The five nodded, then proceeded in the listed order. Mindful of her aim, Coco hefted her rotary cannon and laid a slew of bullets on the unsuspecting group in front of them. As she had planned, the five panicked and scattered, looking for cover. Three of them located the source of the gunfire, and ran towards the advancing Yatsu and Rojo with a collective battle cry, swords raised._

 _Velvet watched as Yatsu leaned to Rojo. "Two of them are going to come for me, since I'm largest. Dispatch the one who attacks you quickly, then flank the remaining two." Rojo looked back then nodded._ _With purpose, Rojo distanced himself from Yatsuhashi so as to offer a larger target range._ _As predicted, the two members on the left charged at Yatsu, attacking at the same time. Yatsu needed do nothing more than strike the tip of his greatsword into the ground in front of him, blocking both blades at once. He looked over at Rojo, who returned the gesture, that same signature gleam in his eye._

 _He swung his blade in a wide arc overhead, leaving a trail of luminescent flames in a circle overhead for a millisecond after the action was completed. Once the tip was at the point of origin once more, he flung it down in a powerful, but controlled motion. In a slanted motion, the blade struck the guard, sending her flying back two meters. Rolling backwards, Rojo stopped to ensure that there was no chance of her getting up once more._

 _When she didn't, Rojo ran and leapt in the air, curling his sword behind him. His face glowed red off of the hue of the weapon as it swung in front of him. Letting out a fierce battle cry, he gave the other two guards just enough time to look back as the two were flung away, towards the remaining members of Team CFVY._

 _As they looked on with looks of pain, Coco stepped in front of Fox and Velvet._ _She reverted her rotary cannon back into its handbag state._ _Curling her arm back, and bending at the knees, Coco swung. She struck the first member square in the chest, causing a chain reaction that sent his comrade flying in the opposite direction first._

 _Velvet felt a sense of admiration at the display of her friend's power. It was a secret to no one that CFVY was one of the most powerful teams on the grounds of Beacon, even without the secret power hidden within one of their particular members._ _"Velvet, Fox. Take care of the other ones." She said._

 _The two nodded, running in opposite directions towards the assorted hiding places that they had seen the two remaining members take. One had taken refuge in a medical tent, reserved for any sort of ailment that one may have undergone during their time on the fairgrounds. The other, the one that Velvet had put in her sights, had run into a ramen tent across from the medical tent._

 _She looked back at Fox, who did the same with her. He nodded, elicting the same gesture._ _Velvet turned, pulling back the flap that served as the entrance to the tent. It had barely even nudged when her target burst thr_ _ough the opening, a roar in his throat. Clutched in his hand was a jagged dagger that Velvet almost mistook for a shard of glass._

 _Her reflexes kicked in, and she moved out of the way, just in time to only be cut on the cheek. She had little time to plan, as the White Fang member, donning a long sleeved shirt under his vest as well as a full Grimm mask that reminded her of the one that she had seen high-ranking members wear in her time there. He slunk low to the ground, using his free hand to dig up a mound of dirt. He sprung upwards, throwing the earth in an underhanded fashion towards Velvet's face._

 _Defensively, her hand moved upward. The member dove forward and attempted to wrap his large, pale hands around Velvet's throat. Once more, she dodged, hearing Rojo call out her name.The attacker lost his footing, sliding onto his knees and hands, and eventually his back._

 _She looked back, seeing Rojo's advance. "No! Stay back!" In her moment of distraction, The White Fang member lunged once more, slicing Velvet just under the knee. A cry of pain rang out in the air, and Velvet reached down, clutching the member's armed wrist much harder than she had intended to. She felt sickened as the member's wrist cracked under the pressure. As she heard the breaking of bone, she remembered the one of the first lessons that Ozpin had taught her._ If you allow your anger to overtake you, then your enemies have already won.

 _The member had cried out a slew of swears directed at Velvet. "What the hell are you?" He said, reaching for his blade with his uninjured hand. Velvet caught him in the act, and slammed the foot of her uninjured leg down on it, with more restrain_ _t. Still, the member cried out in pain. "Get OFF, you bitch!"_

 _Velvet kept the pressure down ,however. Rojo was soon standing next to her, gazing down at Velvet's wound and her new disabled opponent. "What shoul_ _d we do with him?" He asked, not needing to tell Velvet what it was that he had in mind. Velvet scowled, giving a sideways glance towards her friend. Even she was concerned sometimes by such little spikes in his personality._

 _"We should bind him up. Wait for this to end so that the proper authorities can decide what to do with them. Just because he's a blood-thirsty murderer doesn't mean we should allow him the satisfaction of seeing us stooping to his level." Rojo groaned, switching his glance from his unsheathed blade to the pained face of their enemy. She placed a firm hand on Rojo's shoulder, prompting him to place his eyes on her._

 _"You're a warrior, a Huntsman, Rojo. We are not killers._ You _are not a kil_ _ler._ _" She leaned in, and whispered into his ears. "Don't prove me wrong. Please."_

 _The White Fang member chuckled, alternating glances between his captors. Coco walked up to view the prisoner as well, standing by Rojo, eyeing the Faunus man in digust. Yatsu and Fox took to walking around, securing their perimiter. "You think that she's your boss? What's one saved life gonna do to repair all of the blood spilled. You think that keeping a low-level like me is gonna bring back all of your friends? You think that it's gonna keep the screams out of your mi--?" Coco took to silencing him by lifting her hand bag and slamming it onto the bridge of his nose._

 _"Why are the bad guys always so damn talkative?" She thought aloud. "Alright. Let's get back to our plan._ _Rojo, are you good to take point?" Rojo nodded._

 _They proceeded out of the fairgrounds, to their original destination. To all of their surprise, they encountered no other resistance until they were somewhere near 200 meters from their destination. They were had beginning to run next to the shattered remains of the cafeteria when a large Creep burst from the window. It caught Rojo by surprise, falling on top of him._

 _Unable to unsheath his blade, Rojo could only use his sword in his sheathed state to keep the Creep at bay. The rest of the team did not hesitate to carefully pry the beast off of him and dispatch it. They had little time to rest before they heard the screams of those in peril from two directions. Half of the team looked in one direction, while the other looked towards the screams coming from their original destination._

 _"Damn." Coco observed. "Alright, people need our help, in two places at once. Who's up for being an escort and who wants guard duty?"_

 _Before she could totally think the plan through, Rojo pitched in. "Why don't you, Yatsu, and Fox get to the courtyard. Help whoever's already there. Since we don't have time to get to both places altogether, Velvet and I can get to whoever needs our help. Once we take care of whoever is in need of help, we can get back and give an assist to you guys. How does that sound to you?"_

 _Coco kept a grave expression, nodding. She looked over to Velvet, asking if she was alright with this particular path of action. "Yes. We'll be fine and back as soon as possible." Coco rushed over and embraced Velvet in a hug._

 _"You make sure that you come back safe alright? Make sure that you watch each other's backs. If you die, I'm going to kill you." She joked. "Honestly, take care of yourself. I'll meet you back at Beacon Tower, alright?" The two broke the hug and locked eyes._

 _"You, too, Coco. All of you. We'll see you back there." Yatsu and Fox nodded, looking to Coco soon after. She looked back, taking a deep breath. They all took one last look at each other, longing in their eyes. Despite their desire to stay together, they all knew that they had a job to do. They ran their seperate ways, Velvet knowing that they had their objectives to block out the possibility of the event that none of them wanted to face._

 _Rojo and Velvet ran in the direction that they originally had come, following the sounds of the screams that pierced Velvet's sensitive hearing. She blocked it out, as she had learned to do well when she was on the run, surrounded by the screams of those in pain and in anguish. It was a skill that she was grateful for, but would rather have learned an alternate method of acquiring it._

 _It wasn't long until the duo came across the group in distress. To their chagrin, Velvet looked on for half a second as a middle-aged man, who looked as gray as her father did the last time that she saw him alive, reaced up his hands defensively and attempted to protect his apparently-dead companion. A large bloody slash soaked his blonde companion's back, the light tan tunic tattered and stained with the wound. Velvet saw that the enemy he was defending against was an old, sickeningly familiar one: Grimm._

 _Surrounding the dead and wounded pair was (Velvet quickly counted) five Beowolves. Just as she finished counting, there was a reinforcement in the numbers by six. Velvet heard Rojo swear as he began to fully comprehend the direness of their situation. They roared, raising up into the night air. Two of them charged, setting the wounded mourner in their sights._

 _A pang of urgency hit her, the exact reason unknown, and she exchanged a glance with Rojo. The two dashed forward, using their respective methods of attack in order to easily dispatch the Grimm. Slowly, they distanced themselves in order to provide a wider arc of defense for the injured man to escape. When he didn't, Rojo turned, his back to the Grimm. "What are you doing, pal? You need to get yourself out of--" A screeching broke his train of throught, and he turned to look at what Velvet was already eyeing in silent dread._

 _"Nevermore." He called out as the beast rained down a hail of razor-sharp feathers. Velvet, farther than Rojo from the beast but closer to the injured man, rolled across the ground and scooped him up. The two hid behind a nearby pillar as Velvet watched Rojo dive out of harm's way. At least, that's what she thought happened._

 _After securing the well-being of their target, Velvet rushed over to see her friend leaned against the pillar adjacent to the one that she had taken refuge behind. He clutched his abdomen where, as Velvet audibly gasped when she saw, a large gash reached from his right shoulder down to his hip. The Grimm slowly advanced, apparently under the impression that Velvet could not see them._

 _The nearest Beowolf pounced, only to_ _be repelled by a flash of red light. It slunk to_ _the ground, dissolving. Rojo groaned in pain as he released the burst of energy, clutching at his sword arm as he dropped the blade to his side. He chuckled, trying to comfort Velvet who had begun to sob. "Hey, now._ _What are those tears for, Velvet?"_

 _"I can't lose you, Rojo. I can't lose someone. Not again. I won't lose you." She said, weeping._

 _"Velvet. There are bigger things at hand. Do what I can't. Protect those who can't protect themselves. For me." He said, reaching his bloody hand up to stroke Velvet's cheek. He chuckled once more. "Velvet...good--"_

 _"No. Don't say it. This isn't the end. I promise."_

 _"I'll see you on the other side, Velvet." With a smile, Rojo's body relaxed. He slumped against the pillar, his hand sliding off of Velvet's face._

 _The world went blank. Even the Grimm seemed to stop to see how the next few minutes would transpire. The wounded man crawled over, where he saw Rojo. "Oh, my. Miss, I am terribly sorry."_

 _Velvet stayed silent, the tears ceasing their flow. Instead, Velvet's sorrow was replaced with an uncontrollable rage unlike any she had felt before. "Leave." She told, not sure of what she would do. Such indecisivness, she knew, would only hurt more people. Her head grew sore, and her vision became clouded. Her vision began to match the hue of her Hard-Light Copies. It frightened her, even more_ _so of the fact that she felt herself slowly losing control over her own body. She watched her body rise up into the air, her hands and legs becoming spread._

 _Velvet's head raised upward, forcing her to gaze up at the smoky night sky._

 _"Miss?" The wounded man asked in a tone that conveyed his confusion and fear._

 _"Leave! Now! I will take care of this." Velvet commanded in a voice that was not her own._

 _"Thank you, Miss! I will surely never forget this act of heroism!" She heard the sound of the man running away,_ _hefting his dead friend on his back. She looked back for only a second before returning her sights to her original targets._

 _"You will not take any more life tonight! The only blood that will be spilt is_ yours _!" Velvet cried out. At least, she thought she did. When it came out, Velvet could only_ _unintelligible shrieks and growls, much like that that the Grimm made. It frightened her, but she could do nothing to stop herself._

 _The last thing that Velvet remembered from that night was watching herself dive into the herd of Beowolves. As soon as she neared, her memory was drowned by a sea of cerulean, then suffocated into nothing. The next memory she had was one of her waking up in the bay of an Atlesian Airship, traveling to the nearest hospital that wasn't stuffed to the brim with the dead and wounded. Coco, Fox, and Yatsu, battered and weary, sat by her side on the stretcher._

 _Almost immediatley, Velvet realized that there was a single face missing. "Where's Rojo?"_

 _Coco looked to her teammates as if looking for some sort of assistance in making her next phrase hurt any less. She looked back, her eyes soft underneath her sunglasses. She took them off and folded them. Her eyes were tearstained, a rare occurrence that Velvet had not witnessed since they were little girls in Valkryite. Coco placed a comforting hand on Velvet's shoulder. "Velvet. I wish there was an easy way to say this. Rojo, he...didn't make it back. When we found you, it looked like he put up one hell of a fight with you. There was a lot of damage, and even more dead Grimm all around you. I'm...sorry."_

 _She slid her hand down, wrapping it around Velvet's. The two sobbed together, while Yatsu and Fox simply kept their heads bowed. "It's happened again." Velvet said under her breath as she wrapped her arms around the neck of her closest living friend._

 _"I thought that I was going to lose you, too. I didn't know what I was going to do." Coco said between sobs._

 _Velvet said nothing. Instead, she thought to herself. She reasoned that it was Salem's faction who had done this. With that reasoning, she knew that, should she hunt down Salem's faction and stop their plans, it would not just be for Ozpin anymore. It would be to ensure that no one else would be torn away from their friends. It did not even occur to her then to wonder about what it was that she had experienced after Rojo had been killed._

 _Months later, she had attributed it to an instance in which Ozpin had instructed Velvet to take an experimental 'supplement'. He had attempted to merge her Aura with an unknown entity that had nearly killed her, the reason why he declared the experiment a failiure and found other methods to 'enhance' her training. She had no other incidents like the one at the Fall of Beacon, and she was grateful._

Velvet reached her hand upwards, looking at the veins that protruded just under her skin on the back of her hand. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. Restless, she opened them once more and looked outside.

The sun had long since set, replaced by the shattered moon above. Outside the single window, Velvet could only see more and more desert, shrouded by the darkness. She turned her head once more, staring at the ceiling. She lifted her hands once more, and stared at her palms. Her mind was plagued with a single question that always accompanied the one she had during the waning hours of the Fall.

Trying to take her mind off of the night, she reached into a pocket of her cloak nearby and extracted a photograph. It was one taken days before that terrible night. Team CFVY had assembled for a group photo after winning the qualifying round. Rojo, as always, was nearby and decided to join in on the photo. Velvet chuckled softly as she recalled how, as it was in the photo, he playfully leapt onto Yatsuhashi's back. He only smiled, not even offended by the invasion of space. It was a simpler time, one that she was sure would never return.

She clasped her hands on her chest, fighting to keep from crying and making herself vulnerable to an attack of either the mind or of the body. Still, the single question persisted, fighting its way to the forefront of Velvet's concious mind.

 _What kind of weapon did you turn me into, Ozpin?_

This was a question that Velvet was not entirely convinced that she wanted to know the answer to.


	4. The Velveteen Faunus Vol 2 Chapter 4

"Thank you." Velvet said to the waiter who handed her a small cup of green tea, as per her order, on a small glass dish.

The waiter bowed, then walked away, attending to the other customers in the outdoor cafe. Velvet kept her cloaked head ducked down, carefully eyeing the warehouse across the street. She eyed the exterior, looking for any markings that would indicate that it was the hub for any sort of criminal activity. The only marking that appeared to appear out of the ordinary, however, was a symbol near the door of the facility: a symbol of a cloud raining snow.

 _Is that supposed to be some sort of corruption of the SDC symbol? That_ _may be their indicator of what's inside. I just need to wait a little while. It's like Dorian would say; a second look almost always pays off._

It didn't take long for the prolonged observation to pay off. Her attention was turned to two inconspicuous individuals who stopped just short of the entrance. They warily looked over their shoulders, then entered the building in question.

Velvet grunted, then sat straightened herself in her seat. She knew that she had to analyze the threat level, understand what was going on inside. While she was still young, she was wise enough to gauge the possibility of a trap waiting for her inside. She also knew that no such revelations would simply make themselves known to her with her sitting dormant.

At least, that's what she thought until there was a roar of gunfire tearing through the air from the warehouse. Velvet tore off her cloak and downed her warm tea. It filled her with a warm feeling that made her dread the idea of violence less.

She garnered many eyes over to, which she had a hard time of not acknowledging. "Don't worry," She soothed. "I'll handle this."

She Dove over the railing nearby, kicking up a small cloud of sand underneath her. Her hearing picked up the noises of the consumers behind her who harrumphed and observed her nonchalantly. "Look at this." One observed. "Another young Huntress thinking she's going to end all the crime in Vacuo."

Velvet tried her best to pay them no mind, proceeding to the door of the warehouse. She paused at the sliver of wall next to it, intently listening to the conversation going on inside.

"You're full of crap, Chorda! You said that she would give us two of those Paladins, 30 rifles, and more men to guard this Dust. She hasn't come through on jack. So I'll be _damned_ if you tell us to hold the fort here until she says not to. We're not those White Fang chumps. We don't do _anything_ until we get some Lien and what we were promised."

Not wanting to allow the conflict to escalate any further, she slipped in. An armed guard heard the door open and raised his pistol to Velvet. In as nonviolent a manner as the situation would permit, Velvet grabbed the man's wrist with her left hand and pushed his arm back, wrapping her right arm around in a standard disarming technique that Dorian had taught her.

Not waiting for him to cry out in pain. Velvet leaned back, letting the guard fall facefirst on the floor, knocking him out cold. She rose from the ground, looking down at the unconscious guard.

She hefted the large man over her shoulder, then carried him over to the nearest dark corner. Velvet heaved him down as quietly as she could (which wasn't as quiet as she'd hoped, even if it was covered over with the sound of gunfire), then aligned herself with a high stack of crates nearby, bearing the symbol of the Schnee Dust Company. Velvet easily identified this as the shipment of Dust that the older man had brought to her attention the day before.

The gunfire rang out still, giving Velvet the element of surprise. She crept in a low crouch against the crates, making her way towards the sounds of battle. It didn't take long until the darkness was smothered by the light of an open area within the warehouse. There was a group of people huddled behind three thick tables with pistols drawn. Two of them were lying on the ground, dead and facing away from Velvet.

She kept to the shadows, trying to stay out of the line of sight of the armed group until she could come up with a plan that would benefit all of the parties involved. Before she could, however, a new voice emerged, smooth and warm. "Now, now, my darlings. What seems to be the trouble here?"

Velvet popped her head out for a split-second, but was unable to see the speaker's face, due to her line of sight being covered by more crates. All she was able to see was a smooth, dark leg that was adorned with a half of a pair of fishnet leggings and a smooth black combat boot that gleamed in the artificial light. Velvet slipped back behind the crates, staying silent while she listened.

"These idiots started getting a little restless, Honey. They thought that you weren't giving them what they needed, so they started shooting up the place. I tried talking it out, but they escalated when they pulled out their guns."

The stranger that was referred to as 'Honey' sighed loudly. A loud humming filled the air, one that Velvet didn't recognize. She was extremely tempted to poke her head out once more, but did not want to risk being spotted. "When you're involved in a little operation such as ours, I assumed you knew that keeping a low profile was a given."

"Well, maybe if you were going to give us what we need to keep this 'little operation' going, then we wouldn't be complaining. Hell, maybe if you even told us what was going on with all of this, we may be a bit more willing to help."

"You are on a need to know basis, got it? If there is something that you cannot go without knowing, then you'll be informed. Otherwise, you do what your paycheck tells you to and like it."

"That's not good enough for me."

The distinct swish of a knife cutting the air filled the room, replaced by the dull thud of steel upon flesh. Velvet shuddered as she watched from her vantage point the body fall to the ground, a pool of blood growing underneath it. His long blonde hair covered what must have been a shocked and pained expression.

"Then your Honey will find someone who takes what he gets and doesn't throw a fit. Any of you on the opposite side of the room want to bite the hand that feeds you, too? Or do you want to put down your little toys and talk about this little dispute amongst yourselves like men in a bar?"

Velvet watched as the remaining men near her holstered their weapons and crossed the warehouse, heads slunk and faces that accuratley displayed their shame. Velvet kept herself out of sight, still. She pondered whether or not the men would follow this 'Honey' woman's orders. Her curiosity was answered by the receding sound of their voices and bickering. "Devil's Tavern, boys. I'll be there, soon enough. I just have to check up on something, first." The sound of a door closing resonated through the metal warehouse, echoing for several seconds after the fact. Aftwerwards, Velvet could hear nothing but the sound of her own breathing. "Alright, sweetheart. You gonna come out, or am I gonna have to sniff you out among all this Dust crap. Believe me, option B won't be fun for either of us. Allergies, you know?" She said with a light snicker. "Seriously, though. Come on out so we can talk without all of the meatheads around."

Debating the pros and cons of walking out and exposing herself, then those of maintaining her concealment, she decided to step into the light. Velvet remained on her guard as she manuevered herself around one of the overturned tables. She refused to take her eyes off of this character, eying her warily from head to toe. The woman across only smirked as she did the same.

"Nice outfit, kid. Ensemble doesn't exactly top mine, but I like the color scheme that you got going on."

The woman was dark and slender. There didn't appear to be any scars or scratches on her person. From a physical standpoint, Velvet thought the girl appeared to be flawless, a rarity in her line of work.

Her eyes were slanted and narrow, eagerly looking her up and down. Velvet was struck by the fact that they appeared to be gold. Her nose was slightly raised to give her a pompous appearance, that Velvet pushed to the back of her mind so as to not jump to any conclusions. Her lips were extremely thin, a pair of tan lines that gave way only to a set of pearly fangs running downwards.

Her hair was neatly straightened, with the ends in curls. They were black, with a thin sliver of eggshell-white hair going down the middle of her scalp. Unlike Velvet's, it did not appear to be disheveled in the slightest. There was a small strand over her eye, that she raised with a hand adorned with a ringed hand (a ring bearing a familiar symbol, Velvet realized) to cooly brush it away. Velvet grunted apathetically.

Her chest and a small portion of her waist were covered by a low-cut golden blouse. The trimming around the chest area was a lime-green. Around her neck, slinking deep down to the base of her throat was a deep red necklace adorning a black arrowhead. Her arms were covered with flowing sleeves that threatened to engulf her hands.

Upon further inspection, Velvet saw that the shirt had been mutilated around the waist area to expose almost all of her waist, the lining stopping just inches beneath her chest. The back of the shirt was retained to make a tail that covered her back. However, she had chosen to tie it to expose the small of her back as well. The fashion choice perplexed Velvet, but it certainly wasn't the most bizarre she had seen, especially among her peers.

Her legs were offered the equal amount of coverage as her waist. The shorts covering her legs were the same shade of red as the beads of her necklace. They only covered a quarter of her thighs before giving way to a pair of black fishnet leggings. In turn, Velvet to tilted her head down ever so slightly to gaze at the black combat boots with a single gold stripe, bordered with a pair of white lines, that complemented the above style choice.

Instintcively, Velvet began to raise her fists in a defensive position. Honey laughed and raised her open palms to Velvet. "Now, now. Let's not resort to violence here. Leave the bullheadness to those pigs in the bar. I just want to talk."

"Who are you?" Velvet asked bluntly, shooting down Honey's attempts at a rational conversation.

"Ouch. I'm almost offended that you even have to ask. Well, allow me to put you at ease. My name is Honey Ratel, one of the visionaries behind the remodeling of Vacuo."

Velvet narrowed her gaze. "And just what does that remodeling involve?"

Honey leaned forward, pointing a finger at Velvet. "Now, if I gave you the whole story, we'd have to leave you in here. Let me ask you something. What in all of Remnant compelled you to come here?"

Velvet stayed silent, trying to not give any information to the woman she perceived to be as part of the enemy's forces. When Honey learned that she would get no answer, she straightened herself and crossed her arms. "I see. Well, no need. My...let's call them 'associates' have told me all about you. Velvet Scarlatina of Vale, one of Ozpin's little pets."

Velvet struggled to conceal her annoyance at the title that Honey had dubbed. It wasn't the first time that someone had referred to her as such, but it was the first that she was able to keep her emotions in check. Honey placed her hands on her head and sighed. "You don't say much, do you? That's no fun. No fun gets me bored. Boredom gives me an itching for blood. Luckily for you," She performed a swift levitation move, almost too fast for Velvet's eyes to follow. She leaned in before Velvet could react, and whispered in her ear. "I have a sense of self-control."

Velvet performed a strafing motion, her feet sliding across the concrete floor. Honey laughed and ran towards Velvet. She leapt into the air, performing a helicopter kick. Velvet narrowly raised her forearms in time to take the brunt of the attack. Honey dropped to the floor, sweeping Velvet's legs out from under her. Velvet slammed onto her back, and Honey was on top of her, rearing back for a punch. Velvet pulled her legs upwards and kicked Honey off of her. Honey landed on her feet just as Velvet got to hers.

Velvet ran towards Honey, who remained still with a smirk. When Velvet attempted to strike with a dropkick, Honey simply leapt into the air, front-flipping to land behind Velvet. Velvet slid onto the floor hard, her side becoming sore. She slammed into a stack of crates, which tipped. "Round One: Honey. Next time I won't hold back on you, Miss Scarlatina."

The crates crashed down before Velvet could get back onto her feet. She was shrouded in a wave of pain and darkness, hearing the muffled sound of a door closing. Velvet shoved the wooden crates off of her, then leapt to her feet in a fighting. As she had expected, however, there was no sign of her attacker.

Velvet warily eyed her surroundings, fuming that she had allowed her opponent to best her. She rushed outside in an attempt to pursue Honey, but all she was met with was an empty street. To her perplextion, all of the shops and restaraunts nearby were closed.

A faint ticking began to come from the warehouse that had just been vacated. After a moment of thought, Velvet recalled what the ticking reminded her of. She turned and began to run in the direction she had come. When she was a fair distance away, the wareshouse exploded into a fireball. The shockwave still sent her flying to the ground.

She turned and looked back at the building that was no longer there. The flame and smoke served as another painful reminder of what her enemies were capable of. Another manifestation of what she was fighting to prevent on a much larger scale.

 _They won't best me again. I can't afford to let them._ She _won't._

Velvet's momentary break from her current situation was interrupted by the appearance of a second Huntress that looked oddly familiar to her.

She was a young female with tanned skin. It was apparrent to Velvet that she was a native of Vacuo, if not this particular village. She appeared to be the same age as Velvet.

The girl had a head of dark blonde hair swept to her left side, in a tangled heap. Her eyes were a piercing violet, that distinctly reminded Velvet of her mother's eyes. Velvet only saw them for a split second as the girl offered an indifferent glance her way.

 _Where have I seen her before_

She wore a sleeveless green dress with an asymmetrical hem, with what appeared to be a golden scale armor underneath her dress that covered her chest, neck and left arm. A lighter green sarong tied around her hips, and a golden pauldron. Two thin chains looped from the front of her pauldron and around her torso to the back.

Velvet observed that the girl had paired this with a pair of over-the-knee scale leggings, the same design as her chest armor. Her feet were covered with armored boots, adorned with a small heel matching the pauldron, Upon her right wrist and hand, she wore a simple chain bracelet with a ring connected to it, in which hand she brandished a golden spear.

With this spear, she began to move it in a circular motion along the ground in front of her. Soon, a trio of dirt cyclones grew to massive proportions. They swerved along the ground on a path towards the burning building. The flames, to Velvet's expectations, began to become swept up in the whirlwinds. She half expected the wind to spread further to other structures.

However, the girl closed her eyes and pushed the cyclones further, beyond the metal walls of the village. There, she simply released her grip on them, sending a flurry of ash harmlessly into the sand. She took a deep breath, then took a knee on the ground. Velvet ran over and offered a hand that the girl brushed away.

She briskly stood up and pointed the tip of her spear to Velvet's chin. "How did that fire start?" She asked, murder in her eyes.

Not wanting another confrontation, Velvet put her hands up defensively, open palmed. "I don't know. I was just in the area and--"

The girl shoved her spear closer to Velvet, coming dangerously close to striking her. "Don't lie to me. The only people who stick around for this are the clean-up crews of the gangs in this town, or dumb tourists. And there's not exactly any tourists traps here. So that leaves one conclusion. Now, explain yourself."

"Not until you get your weapon out of my face." Velvet sternly demanded.

"Not until you've answered my question."

"Fine." Velvet said exasperated. "I'm here trying to get information on some people in Vacuo who are up to some very bad things. I'm trying to stop them." After the spectacle that had just been made, Velvet saw no use in keeping herself or her intentions hidden.

Hesitating, the girl lowered her spear and rested on her shoulder with one hand. With the other, she extended a sign of greeting to Velvet in the form of a handshake. "It's about time, Velvet. I'm not sure if you remember me or not, but I'm--"

That was when Velvet remembered where she had seen the girl before. It was on the grounds of Beacon, during the last hellish night of the Vytal Festival. They had briefly fought, side-by-side, for the safety of themselves and all around them.

"Dew Gayl."


	5. The Velveteen Faunus Vol 2, Chapter 5

"How do you know who I am? I surely don't--wait, I remember you. You're the Vale girl, from the festival. The one who was able to take on all of those Paladins single-handedly. I remember now. I wasn't sure that you'd made it out, from the way that I saw your friends pull you to the transports afterwards."

A small pause ensued, then Dew wasted no time in bringing the question at hand to the forefront of the conversation. "What are you doing here?"

"I already told you."

"Yes, but I was holding a spear to your throat. You could've been lying."

Dew shrugged. "Fair enough. We should get out of here, though. The local police are the 'shoot first, ask questions later', type if you catch my drift. I would like to keep the same amount of holes I have now." She began to walk down a nearby alley, her spear resting on her shoulders as she kept her hands lifted to hold it up. Velvet followed, curious of where the near-stranger was planning on taking them to talk. She kept her wits about her in the event that a second trap was being laid for her.

The walkway was dimly lit, the tall buildings on every side blocking out whatever natural light was availible. As a result, there was considerable lack of warmth, as evidenced by the weary who rested against the buildings in worn coats.Velvet was reminded of some of the homeless within Vale's borders that had refused help from the Kingdom's effective housing program.

The unpaved alleyway was littered with the discarded trash of meals past as well as downtrodden souls. Many of them gave Velvet and her companion shifty glances as they hid brown paper bags under their tattered clothes. There were bags under their desperate eyes. "Hey, sweetheart. Got some Lien to spare?" paired with, "What are you looking at? Mind your own damn business, kid." while muttering anti-Faunus speech under their breath. Velvet did not allow the common talk of the inebriated to bother her, and kept her eyes forward.

Dew rounded another corner, to a more well-lit area of the back-alleys. There, Velvet saw two lines of doors on opposite sides of each other, surrounded by sandy-colored adobe walls. The doors were cheap wood, that Velvet was sure would take no effot to break through, covered in turn by a black screen door.

Dew withdrew a key card and calmly walked over to a door that beared the numbers '326' on it. Her spear slunk down to her side as she reached into a pocket to retrieve what appeared to be a key-card. She slid the card in a downward motion on a black reader next to the brass doorknob, turning said doorknob when a small red light on the key reader flashed green.

Dew pushed the door open and looked back at Velvet. "We can talk in here, where it's safe. I don't expect you to tell me a whole lot, and that's fine. Just know that I expect to help with whatever it is that you're getting yourself wrapped up in."

As Velvet entered, with Dew holding the door open, she cast a curious glance back at Dew. "Why are you so eager to help?"

"Simple. They wrecked my town, and your school. I had a lot of friends who didn't make it back to Shade that I'm very upset to have lost. It strikes me that these two events may be connected, but I don't really care. After Beacon, I've had just about enough of allowing any criminal element to step over the innocent. Connected or not, I have a lot of negative energy to get out. I figure why not take it out doing what I do best?"

Velvet realized then of how much Dew reminded her of Kandase. It had been months since she had last seen her companion who was running a sting operation from within the White Fang, and she would be a liar if she would say that she didn't miss her. She would also be lying if she would say that she was totally certain she wasn't dead. As the 'invincible' Pyrrah Nikos had proven, no one can be such a thing, especially in their line of work.

Shaking away such thoughts, she took a seat when offered from Dew. Velvet sat on the nearest sitting receptacle, a musty light brown couch that was littered with bloodstains as well as assorted black spots from years of less-than-normal wear. Trying her best to avoid such spots, mostly because of her ignorance of thier origin, she found herself sitting on the edge of the couch. "Don''t worry about the stains. It's mostly just soda stains. The blood is only on the arm-rests." Velvet glanced to the armrests, sliding slightly further back on the couch so as to not offend her host.

This gave Velvet an opportunity to view the state of the small apartment, which seemed only twice the size of her dorm room at Beacon. Directly in front of her was a coffee table, dark brown with even darker rings from years of coasterless drinks using its surface. Along the surface were ashes and discarded cigar butts, leaving greyish-white trails. Covering all of this, however, were crumpled up newspapers that looked fairly old. Velvet picked one up in her hands and smoothed it out. There, she read a heartwrenching title, from a newspaper that Dew had likely brought back from before returning to as the name was recognizable as that of the most popular paper news source in the CIty of Vale: WAR? PEACE THREATENED BY RISING TENSIONS BETWEEN KINGDOMS AFTER VALE ATTACK

The room was oddly blank, to Velvet's confusion. There were no pictures of herself, or her parents around the room. The only one that Velvet saw was a framed picture hanging prominently in the center of the wall to her immediate left. Velvet easily made the inhabitants of the photo to be Dew and her friends within Team NDGO. She tipped her head, while studying the photograph, wondering what had become of the rest of the team since the assualt on Beacon.

The walls were a an eggshell white, the product of someone attempting to paint over the tan stucco walls. Over Velvet's head was a ceiling fan whose frame creaked with every rotation that it made, spinning in a faint circle with the blades. There were three covered bulbs, the dusty blades matching the coffee table below in color tone. The base attached to the ceiling was a tarnished brass.

The sound of clinking glasses and rustling from the kitchen area caused Velvet to sit upright and tilt her back into a casual position, eyeing Dew as she returned from the kitchen area with two glasses of water. "Alright, so tell me. What exactly is going on here in Vacuo."

Warily inspecting the glass for any foreign objects or substances, she took a drink and laid her eyes upon Dew once more. "It's as I said. There are some people who are targeting a particular symbol of order here in Vacuo, the one place that keeps the Kingdom together--"

"Shade. What do they want with it?"

Velvet paused, unsure just how much information she should divulge onto this unknown figure. "They want to destroy it." She said, taking a chance that the girl wouldn't go into hysterics. This was not the case, however, as she merely sat in a recliner nearby that matched the couch across the room. She clasped her hands in her lap and looked to the floor.

"Bastards." She whispered as she raised a hand to her mouth and lowered to her chin. She looked at Velvet once more. "You in the market for some help, or are you going to go for a Spruce Willis type of deal and do it lone-wolf style?" Velvet couldn't help but laugh at the joke, covering her mouth as she did so.

"That's part of the reason why I'm here. It's a big job, and I'm not going to be able to take down the threat here in Vacuo by myself. I have some money back in my motel room, and I'm willing to offer you a cut in return for your help." She was met only by the open palm of her hand. Closing her eyes and slowly shaking her head, Dew declined.

"I don't want your money. It can't do me any good. I have everything I want right now for free. Even if you could pay me, my parents would only end up stealing it to buy more booze."

"Where are your--"

"Out in that alley. They haven't paid the rent in months. The landlord understands that they're total scum, and cuts me a little slack when I'm sometimes late on paying the rent. They wouldn't even know if I'm gone."

Velvet said nothing, looking to the wall opposite of her. She could smell the bite of cigarettes in the air, and fought the urge to run outside and vomit. Wanting to take her mind off of it, she turned to Dew once more. "You don't mind being in constant danger on the journey. The people that I'm going after have no qualms about killing children."

Dew had to stop herself from laughing aloud. Once she saw that Velvet's question was sincere, she chuckled and ran a hand through her hair. "When you've lived in a place like this for so long, knowing that there really isn't any kind of safety net like the police to save you from the things worse than the Grimm, you learn to get accustomed to it. That's a long way of saying I don't give a crap about the danger. I can fight, and from the sounds of it, that's all that you really need against these guys?"

"Not all of it, but that is a big part of it."

Dew scoffed. "Alright, so what else is it that you're looking for?"

"People who are knowledgable about the criminal element here."

"You just described damn near everyone in this Kingdom. There's so many rats here in Tanzig alone that it's an exterminator's wet dream. Now, the kicker there, is that there's the rats, then there's the _rats._ " She cocked her head at the emphasis, only met by Velvet's blank gaze, a clear indication that she hadn't the slightest idea what Dew meant. Dew sighed and slapped an open palm to her forehead.

"Wow. You're quite the country girl, aren't you?" Dew breathed under her breath. "Ok, so let me put it this way. There's those who've seen and those who've done. If you want to get anywhere in this place with an investigation, then you find the rats who are willing to squeal on the other rats, for the right price. If I go with you, then I can lead you to all of the places that you need to go, the people that can lead you to where you need to go, and, ultimately, put you on the path that leads right to...their doorstep. Bluntly put, you're not going to get very far without the contacts that I have in the underworld, and the info that I've picked up on over the years. I may even have a couple of people that can help, once again, for the right price. This is Vacuo, after all."

Velvet concurred, and contemplated how much of a choice she actually had if she truly wanted to bring down the operation that Salem, Watts, and Ratel were planning, then, as she had previously anticipated, she would need to look in the darkest crevices for the tools and people needed to stand a chance against such dark forces. She had briefly considered recruiting the other members of CFVY early on, but she knew that they would be all to eager to fight and die for her.

 _Just like Rojo was._

Taking a pause to collect her thoughts, she realized that she had tipped her head. Velvet raised her gaze to Dew once more. "You said that you don't want any payment?"

Dew put a finger to her chin, gazing introspectively at the white stucco ceiling. "Actually, I think that I'd like to retract that statement. If you can arrange it, I'd like 100,000 at the most."

Velvet crossed her arms, desperate, but finding it dificult to come to grips with the idea of shelling out nearly a quarter of her bequeathed money to a single person. Knowing that there was a near-certainty of such a chance permanently slipping away, Velvet agreed. "If you don't mind my asking, why do you need that particular amount?" Velvet asked, trying to get a better idea of Dew's motives and personality.

Dew chuckled under her breath and blew out a large breath of air towards the ceiling. She clasped her hands behind her head. "Well, I say my staff is due for an upgrade or two. She's brought me through everything imaginable, and, like any hard-working ladies, she deserves to be treated every once in a while." Another small, breathy chuckle. "On top of that, I want to get out of here once I graduate from Shade. Traveling the world isn't free, and I intend to plan ahead. Maybe put it in an Atlas bank, let gather some interest over the next four years."

"I see. Well, that's understandable, and it can certainly be arranged, so long as you stick around long enough to see this through."

"If you have what you say you do, then I have all the reason in the world to stick around, and more. Now that I know these scumbags are targeting me and my friends, there's no way that I'm going to simply going to stand by and let them." Velvet could almost see the determination in Dew's eyes, her blood boiling in the way that her mouth curved. She could practically hear the words 'Bring it on." coming from her mouth.

"That's all that I need to hear. I have the money in my room, assuming it hasn't been stolen."

"Well," Dew rose from her resting place, gripping her nearby spear once more. "Why don't we get there before it has been?"

The two left the apartment, keeping to the shadows should they be pursued by the local police or any of the gangs. To Velvet's relief, there was no such party awaiting for their arrival, either on the dusty cobblestone city streets or in the hotel. Caylee was there once more, slapping her hands on the desk in front of her and offering a warm smile. "Hey there! Quite the commotion earlier. Glad to see that you got back alright. You planning on booking another night? Always nice to make a new friend--" She turned to see Dew enter behind her. Her expression changed from one of joy to one of longing. "Oh. Hey there, Dew. It's...been a while."

Velvet looked over to follow Caylee's line of sight. All she saw was Dew looking slightly below her usual sight-line. "Hey, there, Caylee. I've been busy." She said with hesitation.

With a hurt look, she looked down to the countertop. "Well, maybe we can hang out--"

"Actually, I'm going out with my...friend. We've got some business."

Before Caylee could continue, Dew pushed Velvet towards the room that had been indicated to her on the street. "I'm sorry, Caylee, but we're in a rush. Let's...catch up, sometime?" Dew asked insincerely, and Velvet could tell that Caylee knew it.

"Sure." She said in a choked whisper, turning away to a blank side of her workdesk, pretending to appear busy. Velvet couldn't help but feel a sense of pity as she heard the dry sobs begin.

"Would you mind explaining what just happened?" Velvet asked.

"Caylee and I have some history. Let's leave it at that." Dew and Velvet continued to the room in silence, taking care not to stand in front of the door as Velvet opened it.

Once they were sure that the room was empty, Velvet slid the locked briefcase that contained the half-million Lien and laid it on the bed. She quickly turned the dials on the front of the case until it popped open. She could hear Dew whistle, seeing her put her hands on her hips from the corner of her eye. "Alright. I'm sold."

Velvet turned to face Dew, closing the case. "Ok. So let's get started."


	6. The Velveteen Faunus Vol 2, Chapter 6

"You know, I'm having a hard time believing that you've been totally oblivious to what's going on in _your own_ town. I mean, I'm not even a mule, and I know. So--you're going to have to come up with a better answer than that." Dew said, pressing her spear closer to the breaking point of the foot soldier's forearm.

He looked as if he was set to break into a home when they had apprehended him on the streets. He was dressed in a black, form-fitting t-shirt with small tears at the ribs, paired with baggy cargo pants and basketball shoes of the same color. His tan, cratered face was covered by stringy, bleach-blonde hair. His head, in turn, was topped with a rolled up ski-mask with three holes cut in a triangular fashion.

"You're crazy!" The soldier cried out in the vacant auto garage. He turned to Velvet with pleading eyes. "Get her away from me, and I'll tell you whatever you want to know!"

Velvet hid her discomfort, crossing her arms and closing her eyes. "I will do just that, so long as you tell us what we need to hear."

Dew began to press further, prompting the soldier to cry out once more, clenching his teeth and neck. "Alright! It's some mustachioed guy! From Atlas or something like that! He recruited the Badger gang a while back, took Ratel under his wing. They've got warehouses here, a couple of other small ones in Cleo, and the sister city. Uh, what's its name?" The soldier began to become visibly distressed, watching Dew lean over to Velvet's ear.

"He's talking about Petra. Both of them are quite the trek. Twenty kilometers in opposite directions. Won't get to either of them in time if we hoof it."

"What do you suggest?" Velvet whispered back.

"Throw this scum back out on the street, tell him to give his boss a kiss for me." When Velvet gave her a sideways glance, she elaborated. "He's an old friend."

"Like that Caylee person?"

Dew looked back to their captive. "No, thank the gods. If it was, I'd be considerably less comfortable doing this. He knows me. If anything, he'll likely give this guy beef for getting caught so easy. Isn't that right, punk? Ceril isn't going to take too kindly to such a liability, is he?" She directed her last statement towards the man tied up in the empty garage to an old, rickety chair that they'd found in a corner. He flinched, causing Velvet to lean in to her new associate.

"Your...friend isn't going to kill him, is he?"

Dew hesitated, pondering the answer. Finally, she settled with an alarming, "Probably not."

She quickly unbounded the gang member and pulled him by the scruff of his neck, informing him that he was free to go. As looked back to Dew, she raised her foot to his backside, his face pressed against the metal door of the garage. She pressed hard, thrusting him out into a dustcloud in the alley. He scowled back through the dirt at Dew, who slammed the door shut in his face.

Turning on her heels next to Velvet, she placed her hands on her hips. "Alright, we got our locations. Where do you think we should go first?"

Velvet crooked her finger on her chin. "Well, where are we less likely to die?" She asked half-jokingly. Dew scoffed.

"This is Vacuo. Even if we weren't on the trail of some blood-thirsty terrorists, we'd still need to watch our backs to make sure that there wasn't a knife sticking out of it."

Velvet nodded, slightly saddened that her joke didn't stick. She removed her finger, crossing her arms. "Well, why don't we simply flip a coin?"

Dew shook her head. "Sure, why not?" she said with a laugh. Out of the same bag that Velvet had obtained from Kandase, she withdrew a small coin, a worthless one with a design of the headshot of the original Kings of Vale and Vacuo, a commemorative coin that Velvet remembered was circulated over the anniversary of the end of the Great War. She had found it on the boat ride over from Vale, shortly before travel sanctions were issued left and right for various parts of the world.

"How about heads, we go to Petra, and if it lands on tails, we go to..." she trailed, struggling to remember the name of Petra's sister city. Dew, with a slightly annoyed expression, interjected with the correct answer. "Cleo." She saied exasperatedly.

Velvet positioned the coin on her bent index finger, with her thumb's edge placed underneath. She thrust her thumb upwards, sending the coin soaring high into the air with a slew of flips and turns. The two watched as the small piece of metal began to make its descent. Velvet held out the palm of her hand just underneath the spot where the coin was destined to fall. As soon as it fell into her hand, she flipped it over onto the top of her other hand, which she had just raised at the ready. The two leaned over Velvet's hand as she quickly removed to reveal that it was,

"Tails." Velvet observed.

"Well, I guess there's our first stop." Said Dew. "We can head back to the storage lockers here in town, and I can get us our ride."

"'Ride'? What could you have that can get us across 40 Kilometers of desert? Is it a car?"

Dew wiped her thumb across her lip to hide a snicker. "Oh, what do I have to get us across? Follow me."

The two made short work of making another trek across the town, sticking to the shadows once more. Velvet followed Dew to a remote facility at the edge of town, hidden by a wall with a solitary door and a brick wall. From first glance, Velvet would have thought that there was nothing of interest inside. "What is this?" She asked.

"My little hiding place in plain sight." Dew replied as she opened the door, and entered, beckoning Velvet to follow. The two walked in, Dew looking around outside, presumably to ensure that there was no one following them to their destination. Once she was assured that there was no one presently pursuing them, Velvet watched as Dew closed the door, sliding a small deadbolt into place.

"Are the owners alright with you locking them out of their own establishment?" Velvet asked inquisitively.

"Believe me, I've done _far_ worse with the door unlocked. I'm practically doing them a favor by saving them an uncomfortable conversation."

"I see...wait, what--?"

Dew interrupted by announcing her locating of her personal storage location key on a small peg located behind the desk immediately in front of them. The lobby itself was, in fact, a drab grey concrete room with a poorly welded desk to their immediate front. To the left and right of the desk, modeled much like the inn, were two open doorways from which Velvet could see rows upon rows of locked garage doors in a wide hallway. There were several small cracks along the surface of the floor upon which they stood, in which there were several grains of sand. "Let's see if we can't get out of here without incident." Velvet suddenly became very uneasy, hearing several voices converging outside of the door. Though muffled, Velvet could hear the words " _Door charge set_ ".

"Whatever we're going to do, we need to get out of here, fast. There's some...undesirable people who are preparing an unwelcome party outside."

Dew clutched her key in her palm. "Noted. Let's do what we came here to do, and then some for our new friends." She looked back, and gave a smirk that made Velvet even more uneasy than before. Despite her trepidation, she followed Dew down the hallway to her left. The two jogged until they stopped at a door that adorned the black numbers 138 , spray-painted over the front. Dew clasped the padlock that kept the large door shut, shoving a key into its appropriate crevice. She furiously turned three times, then tossed the fused key and lock to the ground. "I don't suppose I'll be keeping this locker after today, anyway." She crouched down, grabbing onto the metal handle of the door that had a place near the floor. She thrust upwards in a purposeful dramatic fashion, moving out of the way to allow Velvet to bask in the glow of the vehicle that she had put so much bragging and adoration into. "Gaze your fill and disregard the radiance upon my beautiful second love, Charlotte."

The vehicle was, to Velvet's surprise, in very good condition. It was a bright yellow vehicle, its name spray-painted on the left side in cursive across the passenger-side door in purple. It was one that Velvet had never quite seen before. It resembled a trimmed down version of a dune-buggy, with only one wheel present in the center of the vehicle. Holding it from falling over were two small metal pegs at the far edges of the front of the vehicle. It was fitted with a roll-cage over the two seats in the center of the vehicle, with no doors present. Over the black hood were two small cannons set on pivots, giving Dew superior firepower over whoever she came against on the road. There was a small flatbed area, with camping gear (A tent, shovel, and pickaxe), and four metal tanks that Velvet could only imagine were for water and gas. The tires were covered with white chains adorned with teeth.

"Velvet," She said as the two jumped into the black leather seats, "Meet the most crude, street-illegal, but effiecient vehicle known to man. Charlotte, meet Velvet." She told the car, rubbing the tan dashboard as she did. She threw her spear into the bed area, strapping it down next to the tanks.

She turned the ignition as a loud explosion to their right rocked the building. Dew looked over to Velvet. "You ready for this?" Dew asked with a smile. "It's been way too long since I've been able to take my baby out on the town."

Velvet eyed the cannons before turning to Dew once more. "No killing. It's a rule of mine." Dew rolled her eyes, then threw a control pad fit with a joystick and a trigger into her lap.

"Fine. You shoot, then." Without another word, Dew turned on the vehicle and pressed her foot firmly against the pedal, fully depressing it. She slammed into the concrete in front of them, creating a large hole in the wall, and severely denting the door. Dew grabbed a small pair of goggles off of the dashboard and placed them over her eyes. She instructed Velvet to grab an identical pair out of the glovebox in front of her. Velvet did so, struggling to fit the rubber strap over her large ears. As she accomplished this task, Dew shifted into reverse and performed a three-point turn, furthering damaging the walls and doors around them. "I don't worry about wrecking this baby. It is super reinforced. I built her myself."

She pressed down onto the gas once she was flush with the walls and the doorway. The car sped down the wide hallway, towards the narrow doorway. "Before you ask, I had to build her here, piece by piece. So it's going to be a bit bumpy on the way out. Unless you want to cover your head and have a bunch of debris coming down on top of us, I suggest that you blow us an opening."

"Will that work?" Velvet questioned.

"Those are 50 millimeter cannons. It"ll work. Hurry!" She shouted over the roar of the engine.

Velvet eyed the doorway in front of her, then placing her eyes upon the controller. She held it up to eye-level, manuevering it until it was just over the doorway. Putting aside her concern for private property, she pulled the bright-red trigger on the joystick, firing the weapons. The resulting gunshot was so deafening that Velvet's ears were ringing for several seconds after. The artillery rounds met thier mark, creating a cloud of dust. The two ducked down as assortedly-sized pieces of concrete sailed overhead and onto the windshield, not making any marks whatsoever. "What'd I tell you? I bet that scared away anyone in the front, too." Dew said with pride.

She was proven wrong, however, as a slew of Dust bullets pinged off of the windshield, leaving only small white marks. Velvet heard as Dew swore under her breath. "That was the last part I put in. I'm gonna make these jerks pay now!" She revved her engine, then cut the wheel to turn in a wide arc through the hole that she had made. Dew cut the wheel once more as she passed through. Through the smoke and wreckage, Velvet could see that their attackers were forced to go on the defensive, diving out of the way. "You do not mess with a woman's ride! Rule number one!" She shouted out. "Ok, Velvet, I'm sure we've made enough of an impression here. Let's go!" She asked, slamming through the entrance of the building. Brick rained down behind them as they rushed through to the walls of the city.

Dew let out a sigh of exhilaration. "That was awesome!" She declared matter-of-factly. Velvet placed the joystick in her lap once more, relieved that they were alive. Just when they neared the entrance, however, two more men that Ratel had recalled seeing in the warehouse, armed with rifles, took aim and began to lay an assault on the mobile fortress, concentrating their fire upon the portion of glass that protected Dew as well as the hood of the vehicle. "Velvet! Take care of it!"

Fighting the urge to use her Semblance, she lifted the controls and took aim. Velvet aimed the area of sand directly in front of the aggressors. She fired, not only creating a cover in the form of a dust cloud, but also a crater with which they could propel over the duo without any need for further violence.

As she had hoped, Dew entered with enough velocity that the vehicle was able to propel over the village wall. While Velvet feared crashing and exploding, Dew howled in excitement. Once the wheels were back on the ground, Dew halted the vehicle. She looked back to the village. "Ok. If _that's_ your style, then I am totally fine with the whole 'no-killing' bit that you have going on." She turned herself right in her seat once more, then caused the car to lurch forward.

A cloud of sand kicked up under their wheels as Dew turned the wheel to adjust the car. "Ok, if memory serves, then we should head due west to get to Cleo. Then again, if I'm just going off of memory alone, we're gonna be really dead really fast. There should be a road near here that isn't totally immersed in the sandy sea of ours. Velvet, fish out that map I have in the glovebox and see how far off we are."

Velvet quickly found the map, then unfolded it to see just where exactly they were. "The map says what you do. There's a road that's one kilometer west of here."

"Hah. I knew it. That should be the one that they surrounded with barriers to keep the sand out. Let's find out, shall we?"

She pushed down on the gas pedal, sending them on their way. "Off to save the world, we go!" Dew proclaimed, eliciting a rejuvenating feeling within Velvet. One that gave her something she had been lacking ever so slightly as of recent: hope.


	7. The Velveteen Faunus: Vol 2 Chapter 7

It didn't take long for the duo to reach the highway. Rather than find the proper opening with which to enter the highway, Dew found the highest dune she could and drove at top speed onto the asphalt. The vehicle dubbed Charlotte swerved and sparked as its bumper scraped against the road. Dew furiously turned the wheel to realign the vehicle with the road, then sped down.

Dew looked over to Velvet. Velvet, although she was absolutely mortified of Dew's driving skills, managed to appear calm. She replaced the controls for the cannon in the center console of the buggy, and kept her eyes forward so as to not promote any reckless behaivor from Dew. Despite her efforts, Dew still leaned and poked Velvet. Not wanting to seem rude, she turned to face her new ally. "So tell me, Velvet. What compelled you to come to Vacuo yourself, with no backup, to take down a corrupt orginization? Why not get some backup?"

Velvet's long hair flailed in the wind, some strands finding themselves over her face, Dew's hair was tied into a ponytail with a tie she had fished out of one of the cupholders in the car. She had offered Velvet one, but was met with a polite refusal. As Velvet attempted to form an appropriate answer that did not compromise the mission of her friends a world away, she gazed introspectivley out into the barren desert, pushing her hair back. "It's...a long story. Trust is rare now, and there was almost no one availible that I could attribute that word to. I knew that, if I wanted to do this, I had to find, not someone that I could trust, but perhaps someone who would have been able to put aside any allegiances that they had for the right price. I used to know someone like that. At least, I thought I did. My plan seems short-sighted, I know, but if these people think I'm stupid enough to not sniff out one of their spies before they slit my throat in my sleep, then they have another thing coming. They can try to kill me all they want, but, if I'm lucky, they'll wait until I'm already at their home base, where I have their full trust."

Dew broke her gaze from Velvet, and kept her eyes down the road. "Well, what happens if they do? What will you do then?"

"Whatever is necessary. I won't kill them, not if I can help it." Velvet said in a grim tone, looking over at Dew to gauge her reaction. Dew kept her eyes on the road, occassionally looking behind them through the clear rear-view mirror. At one point, she cried out in exclamation. "Velvet. We've got a problem."

"What is it?" Velvet turned in her seat to see that there was, in fact, three vehicles, two black motorcycles and a brown jeep. Like her driver, the four ment and women donned goggles and deep red baggy clothes that were meant to keep them cool. They were armed with small sub-machines guns, glowing red, the bikers' slung over their backs. The feeling of immenent danger surged through Velvet, causing her ears to flicker as well as send the hairs on the back of her neck standing on end.

"How are we going to do this? I don't having anything guarding our six."

Momentarily filled with panic, Velvet unfroze herself and stood up in her seat. Dew looked up at her. "What are you thinking?" Dew asked.

"I'm going to end this. I have the feeling that these gentlemen are not going to leave simply because we ask them to, so alternative measures have to be taken. On my mark, slam on the brakes."

Dew gasped in shock. "Did I just hear you right? You _want_ the bad guys to catch up to us?"

"Just trust me. I know what I'm doing."

 _Relatively_.

Dew voiced her displeasure with the idea, but agreed to comply anyway. She took her foot off of the gas pedal and idly held it over the brakes. Velvet began to feel the anxiety of undergoing her plan without any backup, but she shook the thoughts away, reassuring herself that she would be able to pull it off. It was a declaration that she was not so certain of herself. Regardless, she moved to the bed of the buggy.

Bullets began to whiz overhead, causing her to duck and fall onto her stomach. "Now?" Dew shouted back.

"No." Velvet replied, the nearest vehicle still being too far away to jump on top of. "Just a little bit longer."

"Oh, for crap's sake." Dew cried out. "Give me a second! When you hear me say, 'Now!', you move as fast as you can onto the other--Jeez!" She exlclaimed as a bullet whizzed over her shoulder into the windshield. "Into the other car. Got it?"

Though she was confused about what it was that Dew was planning on doing, Velvet replied in the affirmative, laying prone in wait for Dew's signal. She continued to wonder the exact details of Dew's method of executing her part, but was quickly occupied with other manners.

As if there was a ripple in time, Velvet suddenly found herself mere feet from the front end of the enemy jeep. "Now! Now! Go!" Dew said rapidly. Velvet, still disoriented, leapt to her feet and hopped onto the hood of the jeep. She planted her foot on the windshield of the jeep and planted her other just under the chin of the armed gang member in the passenger seat. She kicked upward, sending his shaved head bucking back, then limp as he fell unconcious. The driver raised her machine gun from her lap, which Velvet kicked away with ease. Desperate, the driver clasped the wheel and thrust it furiously to the left. Velvet was thrown onto the lap of the unconcious passenger.

She began to slide out of the car and onto the road beneath her that was speeding by. A pang of fear shooting through her, she leaned upwards to face the blade of the driver's knife. She thrust forward towards Velvet's abdomen. She slid backwards into the tail end of the two-seater jeep. The driver, keeping a single hand on the wheel, turned and swung her large knife in a wide motion, coming close to slicing Velvet. Instead, she only cut the midsection of Velvet's outift. In a gambit, Velvet reached forward and clutched the wrist of the hand that wielded the knife. In doing so, she caused the driver to jerk away from her, sending the car veering to the right. The biker on the right attempted to avoid a collision, but failed as his legs were smashed, one against the barrier and the other against the car.

Merciful, Velvet broke her embrace from the driver and ran to the opposite side of the jeep before her other opponent could react.Then, to her own surprise, the biker had suddenly vanished. Out of the corner of her eye, she watched as the gang member had landed on a dune, as if he'd been thrown.

 _How could that be? I didn't touch him_.

Velvet didn't have long to contemplate, however, as the driver of the jeep lunged at her once more from behind. She clasped her hands around Velvet's throat and began to press down. Velvet leaned backwards until they both fell onto the bed of the now out-of-control jeep that was swerving to and fro across the highway. The driver lost control of her grasp, giving Velvet the opportunity to turn onto her knees and loom above the woman. She reared back a punch and, with a moment's worth of restraint, landed a hit that only completely depleted the driver's Aura and knocked her unconcious. Velvet reached down to pick her up when a burst of bullets whizzed over her head.

Velvet jumped into the driver's seat and began to attempt to gain control of the jeep. She began to swerve towards the bike, trying to intimidate it into backing off. When this failed, as she had thought it was. Velvet knew that more direct measures were needed. She hopped into the rear of the jeep once more, getting into a low crouch to avoid the hail of the gunfire. Velvet bided her time, then leapt into the air. She performed a front-flip in the air, extending one of her legs for the sole purpose of kicking the rider off of his bike. She was banking that he would have so slow of a reaction time that she would be able to do what she needed to without obtaining any gunshot wounds or, at the worst, dying.

She felt her heel connect on the top of the bikers head, with no gunshot wounds to speak of. In an instant, or even faster, the bike was skidding on its side down the highway, the rider unconcious on the adjacent desert. The jeep was safely parked on the side of the road behind them. Velvet was lying on her side in the bed of Charlotte with no recollection of what had just transpired, nor how she had managed to make her way into Dew's vehicle.

She looked at Dew in the passenger seat, beaming back at her for a glancing second. "That was some pretty good work back there, Velvet. Where'd you learn those moves? Back from one of your old buddies in Vale, I bet. Hurry up and get back in the front seat." Dew was covered in sweat and seemed short of breath. While, naturally, Velvet would attribute this to the heat, she had a knowledge that most Sanus natives were long accustomed to the arid climate by the time that they had reached Dew's age.

"Are you alright?" Velvet asked, concerned.

"Me?" Dew replied incredulously. "Of course. You were the one doing all of the butt-kicking back there. I should be asking you that, especially with the tear on your outfit."

Velvet had since forgotten that she had nearly been eviscerated by the driver of the jeep, and felt along the length of the slash with her fingers. "I'm fine. She didn't get me."

"Oh, that's a relief. I was worried for a moment there."

"Awesome. Alright, well, it should please you to know that we're but a few minutes away from our destination. We won't be the most comfortable, with what just happened on the highway and all, but I know a place where we can lay low while we do our work in Cleo. It's an old friend of mine, who does a lot of dirty work on the underground scene. Nothing high-level, but he can get us started."

"Can we trust him?" Velvet asked, taking notice of, but not commenting on, the sudden topic change. She attributed it to Dew's current state, and made a mental note to come back to it later. Dew looked back to the road.

"Trust is a strong word." She said with a suddenly flat tone.

"Is that a no."

"No, but its not a yes, either."

"I see." Velvet was acutely familiar with the consequences of misplaing total trust in a person. She thought back to Hansel for a painful moment as she crawled into the passenger seat of the buggy. She shook the thoughts away, looking back to Dew, who had noticed her head shaking.

"Are you alright?" She asked.

Velvet waved her hand, watching as it was captured by the wind that blew over the windshield. "I'm fine."

Dew nodded, then turned her eyes back to the road. "Let's put it this way. When the chips are down, I could trust this guy with my life. But there is no way that I'd ever trust him with information." She paused before adding, "It's complicated."

"I know all about it."

"Is that right?"

"Unfortunately."

Dew harumphed. "You know, I have the sneaking suspicion that you're not exactly the innocent farmgirl that I thought you were at first."

Velvet couldn't help but snicker at this, covering her mouth to be polite as well as keeping any stray bugs out of her mouth. She put her hand in her lap once more, using the other to push her unruly hair back once more. "You're more right than you know." She mumbled.

"I bet I am." She heard Dew mumble under her breath immediatley after. She was shocked that she was able to hear her words over the sound of the roaring wind passing them by. "By the gods, what am I getting myself into?" she mumbled further.

Velvet stared out at the tall dunes, placing a folded arm on the frame of the buggy. She had since given up on taming the flailing hair in the wind, rather letting it blow any way that it liked. It was a free kind of chaos, the one that everyone secretly longed for in their lives, but never dared to tell anyone about. She tried to think of an answer to Dew's question, but, in reality, she could think of nothing. She had yet to know the full scale of what her enemy was planning, what devious ways they were concocting in order to bring a fragile kingdom to the point of shattering like glass.

 _What_ are _we heading towards? What are we going up against?_

Velvet was not entirely sure that she wanted to know the answer to either of these particular questions.


	8. The Velveteen Faunus: Vol 2 Chap 8

The sky was beginning to turn a mix of orange and fuschia as the sun began to fade to the other side of the planet. Over Velvet and Dew's head, a shattered moon that was familiar to every sentient thing on Remnant became more clear by the hour. Velvet looked up to eye the cellestial body as she and Dew drove up to the gate of the village of Cleo. The shack that was attached to the gate of the entrance to the village, as opposed to the Tanzig village, was forged of scarred steel that glinted under the light of Charlotte's headlights.

"How's it going?" The guard, a greying man with a large waistline and narrow eyes, called out. "You here for business or pleasure?" He followed with a cackle. When Velvet and Dew only followed with blank stares, he put his hands along the sill of the window that allowed him to talk to those on the outside. "C'mon, ladies. That was a joke."

"Oh, we know. We only laugh at jokes that are funny."

The older guard scowled at Dew, turning away for a moment while muttering the words, "Damn kids with their smart mouths. No respect, even in parts like these." He turned back to the duo once more, with a more serious tone that gave the indication he intended to do his job with no strings attached. "Alright. How long are you going to stay here, and what for?"

"We will be staying indefinitely, and it's going to be spent visiting an old friend."

"Names?"

Dew looked at Velvet with a grim expression, then turned back to the guard. "That's not protocol. Why do you need our names?"

The guard sighed and rolled his eyes. "In case you haven't noticed, the CCT is offline. We have no way of tracking what kind of criminal scum is traveling through these parts. Once it gets back online, we'll be able to see who's been where and make sure that any activity of theirs doesn't go under our noses."

"It's probably going to be months until the CCT is back up. What's the point of trying to keep tabs on anyone if you won't know they were here until after the fact? If anyone really wants to stay hidden, they probably won't even give their real names, and since you don't have any real kind of databases to go off of, there's no way you can tell if they're lying. Where's the sense in that?" Dew argued.

"Well--uh--Ugh, just get on your way. I have better things to do than reason with the likes of a _child._ " He declared, turning away from the window just after closing it.

"And a good day to you, sir!" Dew shouted at the glass with a wave and a rude gesture. Velvet sat straight in her seat as the vehicle crept into the dark streets of Cleo.

There were almost no street lamps present down the roads they passed. Dew unstrapped her spear from the bed of the buggy and told Velvet to be on her guard, to keep her weapons at the ready. "I don't carry any weapons." Velvet informed Dew.

Dew scoffed, shaking her head, but not letting the surroundings get around her. "How have you lived this long without a weapon?"

Velvet realized then that Dew had yet to see her Semblance. She felt it best to keep it under wraps until she either had no option but to use them or she came to a point when she could trust Dew with such information. "I'm just very good with hand-to-hand combat." She partially lied.

"We have to have a sparring match sometime to see just how good, eh?" Dew leaned over and tapped the outer edge of Velvet's forearm with the flat end of her fist.

"I look forward to it." She said under her breath, just loud enough for Dew to hear.

The village was a small city compared to the likes of Tanzig. The buildings were twice the size, as were the (noticably paved) roadways. Velvet could see small children playing with a ball outside of what she thought were massive apartment complexes. On the concrete front stoop of a near complex, an older woman watched the children play. She took a sip from a can and laid it between her legs.

Velvet turned away and took in the rest of the city. There was only a single shop that she could see that was vandalized through the mediums of spray paint and a shattered window. Aside from that, the other stores and restaraunts within the immediate vicinity were immaculate. The only thing that Velvet could see that could possibly constitute as unruly were three teenagers at the far corner who were arguing. Eyeing them warily, she gasped as one of them drew a pistol from his waistband and fired a shot just as his weapon was deflected by the intended target. Velvet

dove out of the buggy and sprinted towards the trajectory of the bullet. She summoned a Hard-Light copy of her father's shield, then sprinted to get in front of the children who were only concerned with the strange woman who had begun running towards them.

 _I can't make it. The bullet_ 's _too fast. They're going to get_ _hurt._

At the last possible second, just when Velvet was sure that she was to fail, she suddenly found herself in front of the now-frightened children, the single bulletbouncing off of her shield with a _ping._ Velvet's shield dissolved by her hand, and she looked back to the children. They ran to the older woman who welcomed them with demands to hurry inside and lay down on the floor. She exchanged her glances to the teenager that still had a pistol in his hand, and then to Velvet. All she did was nod in approval, then hurry inside herself.

"Velvet." She turned to Dew at the calling of her name. "Let's go get him."

Velvet turned to see that the trio had run away from the scene. Without wasting another moment. She jumped back into Charlotte and awaited Dew's foot to slam into the gas pedal. Dew did almost immediatley, and they drove off. "Did you see which way they went?" Velvet asked.

"We're only looking for one. The jerk who decided to take his beef out in public. He's the only one who needs to pay." Dew's knuckles turned white as she clamped down on the wheel. Velvet began to get the feeling that there was some hidden motivation behind Dew's actions, but she felt it wise not to voice such curiosities until the situation was well-over.

Dew cut a hard left at the intersection ahead of them where the three teens had stood. She began to look between every business and in every alley, withdrawing a flashlight from under her seat to look within the darkness. Velvet found a second flashlight in the glovebox and shone it down every alleyway to their right side. Several seconds passed like this, until Dew parked the buggy without a word. By the time that Velvet looked over to see what the matter was, Dew had run down a dark alleyway, spear in hand.

Velvet followed, unsure of what was waiting for them in the darkness. As she sprinted in front of a bakery with the cages down over its door and windows, a single gunshot illuminated the alleyway and the dark street. Velvet rounded the corner to see Dew, her spear in one hand and the barrel of the pistol in question in the other, standing over the shooter, who was on his back, trembling in fear. She raised the lethal end of her spear and slammed the flat side into the cheekbone of the immobilized thug. His face was sliced open, a thin trickle of blood beginning to flow onto the gravel beneath him.

"Dew!" Velvet cried out at the violent action. Dew glared back, murder in her eyes.

"Do you want information or not? This punk was stupid enough to take a potshot in public, he deserves whatever I'm going to give him. In return, he's going to tell me what I want to know." The teen, sporting a maroon sweater, black cargo pants, and a red scarf, whimpered and tried to crawl out from between Dew's legs. She pistol-whipped him, then crouched down, pressing her knee against his chest. "Oh, no, sweetheart. You and I are not done yet."

"C'mon. I'm sorry, alright? Just--just let me go!"

"No! It's because of people like you that I'm an only child today. Now you are going to give me some recompense." The thug seemed to weigh his options, glancing at Velvet, then back to Dew.

"What do you want to know?" He said, slightly above a whimper. The fear of death was clear on his faith. Velvet almost pitied him, and couldn't help but feel mildly uncomfortable with having to witness such things.

"Dew--"

"Look, Velvet! If you're just going to stand there and whine, then stand in the alleyway and make sure none of his friends don't interrupt! I'm going to do what needs to be done." She cut her off. Velvet felt the sting, but, ultimatley, knew that such drastic measures were necessary amidst such odds. Rather than move out into the alleyway, however, Velvet decided to stay, so as to not leave their captive at the total mercy of Dew's rage.

"Now, where were we?" She turned back to the teen. "What's your name?"

"Like I'd tell you something like--gah!" The remark was cut off by the back of Dew's hand against his wounded cheek.

"Do I look like I'm playing here? Do you think I'm one of these punks who would just back down or kill you? We'll, me and my friend over there. We're not. We're something much worse than your little thug friends; we're the good guys."

The teen gave Dew an incredulous look. Before she could react, he spit in her direction, landing a hit on her outfit. Even from where she was standing, Velvet could tell that Dew would have no qualms about killing him. She moved up before Dew could lay a hand on the misguided peer of theirs. When Dew felt Velvet's hand on her shoulder, she turned once more, the same look of bloodthirst in her eyes. "I've got this! Back off!" She whispered loudly.

"You need to cool off! I can handle it from here. Step away."

Dew was about to reply, but Velvet, in a bold move, put her finger against Dew's lips. Never before had she seen someone get so red from holding in their rage, but Velvet remained. "Not another word. Away, now."

Flaring her nostrils, Dew rose up, giving a dirty look to the kid on the ground. "Give her any trouble, and I'm back here in a heartbeat." She looked down where her clothes had been spit on in disgust. "I'm not even going to touch that. Only the gods know where that scum's mouth has been." Dew hefted her spear, turning her back to the other two as she leaned against the nearest building.

"Alright. Let's start where she left off. What's your name?"

"Why don't you pi--" However, this time, he looked over to Dew, who was listening over her shoulder. "Uh, Thomas. Thomas Evergreen. My friends call me T."

Velvet crouched down, not bothering to restrain the teen she now knew as "T". "I see. Quite the nickname, T. Why don't you tell me some more about these friends of yours. One of them wouldn't happen to be affiliated with the Badgers, would they?"

She watched as Thomas' eyes widened, dialated, then turned away. "No, never heard of them."

"I don't believe you." Velvet said matter-of-factly.

"I'm telling you the truth." He said, not turning his eyes back to Velvet. "I've never heard of them or Honey Rat--" He stopped himself.

Velvet couldn't help but feel a wave of confidence as she discovered the slip of the tongue. "I'm sorry. What was that second thing?" She asked facetiously.

"Nothing. Don't worry about it."

"Oh, no. I think I will. What do you know about Honey Ratel?"

"I don't know who that is." He said waveringly.

"I see. Well, perhaps I can call over my friend over there and see if she can't jog your memory."

Another look of dread in his eyes as he looked over to Dew, whose smirk Velvet could feel from behind her. "No! Ok, from the sounds of it, the Badgers are in it with someone big. Bigger than any street gang."

"We know that. Where are they?"

"You think I know that?"

"I think you do." Dew said, crossing back over to them. "Everyone in this region knows that the Badgers and the Crazy Mongeese have been collaborating as of recent, and I would bet all the Lien in the world that they've probably been Ratel's little helpers on occassion. What do they have here, and what are they planning on doing with it?"

"What are you talking about, lady?"

"Anything. Foot soldiers, Grimm tamers, arms dealers. We're going to need all of their names and locations."

"What? No! They'd kill me if I squealed." He pleaded. "I mean--I don't know where they are."

Dew clicked her tongue, then looked over to Velvet. "This is not good. Not good at all."

"W--what is?" T asked, desperatley trying to uncover Dew's intentions.

"You're a horrible liar." She slammed her foot into the ribcage of the thug, causing him to cry out in pain. "You want to try that again?"

"Alright! Ratel has her head office somewhere in Petra, I think. If not her head office, one of her lieutenants has the info in one of their aparments."

"What lieutenant? Where?" Velvet asked, her voice coming off harsher than she intended to. Her patience was running thin, and her filter with it.

"I can't say. Like, I honestly don't know. I don't even know the lieutenant's name. I just joined up, like, a month ago."

Dew lightly shoved Velvet out of the way. "I still don't believe you. I guess you don't value your life that much." She pressed her spear-tip into the Adam's apple of Thomas, eliciting a whimper from his throat.

"Alright!" He said, throwing his hands up in defense. "Alright. His name is Rusty. That's all that I know. He's got it in his apartment, like I said."

Thomas gave the exact address and was allowed to get up. "Now, obviously I'm not going to give you your piece back. Where would be the sense in that? If you ever cross our paths again, we won't let you leave. Understand?" Dew said, her hands in closed fists on her hips. T nodded and sprinted out of the alleyway.

'Aren't we going to give him to the police?" Velvet asked with a quizzical expression.

"There's no need. If the cops here are like the ones in Tanzig, then that guy would either end up dead in a ditch or sent on his way with some Dust contraband strapped to his back. If we let him go, he's actually got a chance to get out of this part of his life alive, and, if he's really lucky, then with a portion of his dignity intact. We don't need to worry about him. You did hear what he said. Now we know where one of your friend's friends live. Why not go and pay them a house call?" Velvet began to walk behind Dew, eyeing the tall apartments' and shops' windows for an ambush in the making. Velvet refused to let her guard down again in such a deceptive place.

The two hopped in the car once more, Dew turning the ignition to bring Charlotte to life. Dew spun the wheel as the duo drove off into the night. Velvet made good use of her night vision to see what it was that the darkness held in store for them. The darkened city seemed deserted, save for a single burning trash barrel surrounded a group of weary individuals in an alleyway. When one of them returned Velvet's gaze with one of hostility, she turned straight in her seat once more. "Yeah. Doesn't seem like quite the lovely city anymore, does it?"

Velvet was surprised to hear Dew say such a thing. It was as if she had read her thoughts earlier. "What? What makes you think that I--?"

"I've met a person or two from here before. They all say the same thing. 'I thought it was a fresh start. It seemed like such a perfect community within chaos, especially considering the size of it. That was when the killing started.' Blah, blah...blah. Everyone always thinks that there's some perfect utopia here. The thing is, everyone keeps looking in the wrong place. Want my opinion? The only sanctuary is anywhere except here."

Velvet did not respond, simply because she had no idea what she could possibly say that would take away the pain that Dew felt, the anguish. She knew that she still had much to learn about the world, this part of it in particular, and she was in no place to give advice about a place where she was but a foreigner.

Dew turned the wheel sharply once more, driving onto the curb of a nearby sidewalk. Without correcting herself, she cut the engine on her vehicle, and beckoned Velvet exit. "This is the place. You ready? Things might get a bit heated inside." Dew observed.

Velvet nodded. "It's nothing that I haven't handled before. I have your back if you have mine."

"Why wouldn't I have my own paycheck's back? You die, and this is all for nothing."

Dew chuckled flatly as she put her hands on her hips, looking up at the ten-story apartment building. "Fair point. What apartment did that Thomas fellow say that his boss was on?"

Dew stood by her side for a brief second before walking through the entrance of the building, which was nothing more than a tagged oak door with four distinct squares carved in each of the four corners. Velvet followed, debating whether she would be forced to use her Semblance in close quarters. It was something that all three of her mentors had listed as a last resort. She recalled Qrow saying, "Using your Semblance in close-quarters combat, especially yours, is a damn near death sentence for everyone in the direct vicinity, even yourself. If I were you, I would only do that if I were bleeding out in a corner with no hope of escape."

Velvet didn't think that such a violent end would befall her today, so she resolved that she would stick to using either her hands and whatever non-lethal melee weapons the enviroment provided. If luck was on her side today, she silently prayed that that entailed everyone being able to walk away, friends and foes alike.

But it's like Blake would always say. Real life is not like a fairy-tale. I always thought that she was just being a buzzkill then, but I understand what she means now. Especially now.

Dew, knowing that Velvet had superior eyesight in the dark, asked her to take point in the near ptich-black stairwell. Seeing it from a logistical standpoint, Velvet agreed. Once they reached the stairwell of the seemingly empty building, she stepped in front of Dew. There, Dew attempted to hand her Thomas' pistol. Velvet violently shook it away.

"No. No killing." Velvet whispered.

"Velvet, if there are people up there, they're probably going to have guns. If they have guns, don't you think that you wanna prevent from being the most outgunned one in the room?" Dew whispered back.

"I'll be fine. If you feel so concerned about our armaments, then perhaps you should keep it yourself."

"Nah. Guns aren't really my thing." With that, Dew replaced the weapon in her waistline and motioned for Velvet to move ahead.

The two stuck to the wall and crouched on the way up, making themselves as small of targets as possible should they come across an armed guard. Dew kept her hand clasped around Velvet's wrist so they wouldn't be able to become separated in the black. Velvet occassionally glanced back to see the condition of Dew. Everytime was always the same: Dew would have her free hand plastered to the wall, squinting in vain in an attempt to see through the dark.

Velvet guided her upwards, curious of why they had not encountered anyone on the stairwell. It also had recently crossed her mind that, while there appeared to be signs of recent habitation of the building, such as discarded toys with no dust accumulation and the cars that she had seen parked out front along with their own (the latter being more speculative, in her mind). Velvet smelled a trap, as did Dew, upon further discussion.

"What do you think? Should we turn back?" Dew asked, looking around blindly.

"No. We can't be intimidated by these people. If we don't stand up to them, then no one will."

"Yeah, I'm all for going in on a suicide mission and everything, but we are literally flying blind right now."

"We'll be fine. Have a little faith."

"If you say so." Dew fell silent, as they crossed over a portion of the wall with a large 10 spraypainted.

"We're here." Velvet said. "Give me a second. I'll see if I can't do something about the light issue." Dew still in tow, Velvet looked around the walls for a light switch. After crossing the threshold onto the tenth floor, she turned and found just that. She flipped on the switch, illuminating the hallway. As soon as she did, a hail of gunfire erupted from the portion of the hallway to her back. Dew pulled her back, both of them falling to their backs on the stairwell.

"I totally called it." Dew said, with a small bit of satisifaction in her tone. Velvet rolled her eyes, and climbed onto her knees. The gunfire stopped, with a gruff female voice telling one of her subordinates to confirm that Velvet and Dew were dead.

"There's one coming. If we find some way to distract the rest of them, we can subdue all of them."

"Are you insane? We can't do that."

Velvet took a deep breath. "Of course we can. Just watch." She wished that she felt the confidence that she pretended to have.

With no way of knowing what it was that she was working with, she leapt out of the stairwell. A heavily-armed gang member with a deep-red bandanna over their face and purple sunglasses to go with their black jeans and t-shirt, Velvet dashed forward and tightly clutched the barrel of the member's machine-gun. She used her other hand to force the member's body into the nearest doorway, where it collided and penetrated with a loud crash.

To her immediate left, Velvet saw a coffee table, as well as three other gang members pressed against the wall, rifles pointed at her. The leader, from what Velvet could ascertain, was a stout, muscular woman with tight-fitting black dress shirt. Her arm was covered with a sleeve tattoo of a Nevermore. "There she is! Light her up!" she commanded, giving her identical subordinates to open fire.

Dashing in a 'Z' manuever, she dropped to her knees to clutch the base of the table. She threw it up in order to block the bullets coming at her. She concentrated her energy to her legs and leapt into the air. Velvet aimed and performed a drop-kick on the table, splitting it into flying projectiles to hurl at the enemy. As she dropped into a crouch, she came to a realization that her move may have been lethal, but it was too late to take back. Then, another ripple.

In an instant, the floor was covered with wood, along with the unconcious, but otherwise unharmed, forms of their attackers. Dew was inexplicably walking away from the members, the staff of her spear being held over her shoulders, despite her having been just behind Velvet.

"What? But--how--?"

"I'll explain later. For now, let's hurry and get what we need before the after-party commences." As Velvet rose, her mind still trying to wrap around what had just happened, Dew broke the silence once more. "Here. Let's see if we can't get in, quiet-like." She stepped in front of a door that was near the end of the hallway, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath. Brandishing her spear as she would in battle, Dew slammed her heel against the wooden door, shattering the lock and all of the wood around it.

As if she had knocked and been invited in, Dew casually walked in, carefully avoiding the wreckage she had caused. Velvet quickly followed, unsure of whether their adversary would be inside. She entered, and saw that the apartment was, as she had silently expected, a pigsty. There were moving boxes all around, filled with items that had yet to be unboxed, as well as a lone television set, the base projector hanging on a nail in a lone corner of the room.

In lieu of any conventional chairs, Velvet saw only crates with discarded liquor bottles and cigarette butts surrounding them. There didn't appear to be any place that would hold vital information, so Velvet followed the sound of Dew's footsteps down a narrow hallway, where she passed a grimy bathroom. In there, Velvet caught sight of a small, yellow piece of parchment tucked into the frame of the mirror. Velvet braved to open the door, to see that there was in fact a heavy man, alcohol in hand, asleep on the toilet.

He donned a white, sleeveless, undershirt, and blue boxers with white spots. His lower face was covered in stubble, and his head was considerable lacking in any hair around the crown. What was there was peppered, gray and black.

We broke into his house, beat up his guards, and he still managed to sleep through it? Classy.

Seeing no need to engage in violence, Velvet walked over and simply swiped the paper that was foolishly labeled, Honey's address. She walked out and whispered to Dew her findings. The two, elated that they had found another lead, began to walk out of the apartment when they caught sight of two additional gang members. When the latter caught sight of Velvet and Dew, they raised their guns to fire. Velvet turned and spotted a previously-overlooked window.

"Dew. I need you to follow me. We're going to find a new way out of here."

"What do you mean? What are you thinking?" She asked as they dove back into the doorway. As they spoke, the heavy man who was asleep in the bathroom had finally been stirred.He walked behind Dew and Velvet, a pistol in hand.

"Hey! Just what is going on he--?" Before he could finish in his thick accent, Dew turned on a dime and landed a punch directly in-between his eyes. His silver and black pistol fell to the ground, followed by his body with the back leading.

"You were saying?" Dew said without missing a beat, massaging her knuckles.

Velvet stifled a chuckle. "There's a window at the far end of the highway. Once those two at the end stop to reload, we make a run for it and run out of the window. We activate our Aura so we don't suffer too much damage on the way down. And we head here." Velvet lifted the parchment once more to Dew's face.

Dew considered, eyeing the floor, then Velvet. "I suppose we don't have much other choice. We go on your count."

Velvet nodded, and waited for the firing to stop. When it did, she grabbed the pistol on the ground. Leaning her hand out, in a last-minute attempt to ensure that her plan would go off without a hitch, she cocked the pistol and fired two rounds into the ceiling. "Let's go." She turned to Dew, who nodded and ran out first. Disgusted by the barbaric weapon in her hand, she discarded it and sprinted after Dew, refusing to look back despite the imminent danger lurking behind them.

In a brilliant stroke of luck, Dew was able to shatter the glass with the end of her spear and dive out in front of Velvet, shortly before she did herself. Pushing her fear aside, Velvet closed her eyes as she leapt off of the windowsill from ten stories up. To her surprise, a large updraft cushioned her fall and allowed her to glide blissfully down. When she opened her eyes, she saw that the momentary updraft was so much more. Dew and herself were being slid down a cyclone that she formed with her spear.

The two landed down on the cold concrete, Velvet rolling while Dew was on her feet, apparently much more experienced with the sensation of gliding to the ground. Velvet quickly regained her footing, and the two rushed into the seats of Charlotte. Dew slammed the keys into the ignition and sped away from the scene. "Alright. That--" Dew had to take a breath of air as the adrenaline began to wear off for both of them. "That was more eventful than I had anticipated."

They rushed out of the city, back on the highway, despite the guard's warnings to not go out at night, because of heightened Grimm activity. Charlotte sped past, slightly muffling what the old man was saying.

"You're telling me." Velvet concurred, trying to ignore the guard's warning. "I think I'm about done for enough adventures for one day."

"Well, it's too hot for us to stay here for a whole night. Why don't we head over to Petra? See if we can't sweet-talk that old associate of mine into letting us crash at his place for a while."

Velvet nodded, staying silent. She glanced into the rear-view mirror, then at Dew, who returned her gaze. "What are you thinking?" Dew asked.

Velvet felt that now was an appropriate time to inform Dew of just how she felt. "I'm thinking that our job is going to get much harder from here on, and I also want to talk to about something."

Dew broke her gaze to focus on the road, but just as quickly turned back to Velvet. "Alright, shoot."

"When were you planning on telling me about your Semblance? When were you going to tell me about your Time Dialation?"


	9. The Velveteen Faunus: Volume 2, Chap 9

"Well, that was quite random." Dew replied, obviously beating around the question, evidenced by her silence afterwards.

"Well?" Velvet said, waiting for an answer that would satisfy her questions. Dew took a deep breath, then looked back at the road. She took one of her hands off of the wheel and grabbed the edge of windshield.

"How long ago did you figure out about? I thought I was quite discreet about it."

"Did you think that I wouldn't notice small breaks in time, that I was somewhere else, far away, in mere milliseconds? Not to mention when we were in the hallway, and you suddenly appeared in front of me, seemingly out of thin air."

Dew laughed. "Well, I suppose I was just asking for it, that time. I'm not sure why I wanted to hide it; maybe a trust thing or something. Either way, it's out in the open, now. You satisfied?"

"No. From now on, we need total trust with each other. No more secrets like that, got it?"

Dew scrunched her face, then turned to Velvet. "Are you kidding me? _You_ telling _me_ to not keep secrets? What about this whole thing, Velvet? I still have nearly no idea what it is that we're getting ourselves into, or where you managed to pull that green shield from. Why don't we talk about some of that, huh? Maybe then you can lecture me about keeping secrets."

Velvet, frustrated with this form of assualt, and the accuracy of the blows, decided to throw caution to the wind, and let Dew know exactly what it was that she was heading towards. "Alright! You want to know what I--what we are going to fight?"

"Yes. Please!"

"I'm sure that you know the story of the Four Maidens?"

"I do. My childhood was normal enough for that, at least."

"Well, what if I told you that..." Velvet trailed, unsure of how Dew would react to what it was that was to come out of her mouth next. She took a deep breath, and fought any inhibitions she had. "What if I told you that they were real?"

Initially, Dew said nothing. Velvet feared that the information might have been too much for her to handle. Then, she said two words that Velvet never thought that she'd hear in her lifetime.

"Called it."

Velvet stammered, trying to get out a proper response. "E-Excuse me?" She leaned herself against the frame of the buggy, sure that the woman she was riding with was insane, or prophetic, or both.

"Oh, c'mon, Velvet. It makes total sense, well, to me, anyways. We live in a world where we fight giant monsters and can harness natural abilities to fight them. Is it really that much of a stretch to believe that, somewhere out there, there are four beings are able to use magic? If you think about it, what we do isn't that far off."

Velvet stroked her chin, mulling over what Dew had said. There's not just four who can use magic, apparently. She thought, thinking back to what Ozpin had told her all those months ago. "You...actually make a good point."

"Yeah, I know. Trust me, I reasoned this all out back when I was, like, 14. It's always been a dream of mine to meet one. Do you think that we're going to on this trip?" She asked with childlike wonder.

Velvet couldn't help but admire that hidden innocence within the rough exterior that Dew had. "I can't say for sure. I can tell you that, if we do, then we're not going to be able to sit down for tea, because it's probably not going to be under the best conditions."

Dew nodded, and fell silent as a smile grew on her face, regardless. "Still, we may get to meet a Maiden."

Velvet chuckled. "Yes, maybe. Can I ask why you're so eager to meet one, though?"

"Well. A couple of reasons, if you must know. First off, the obvious one, they're Maidens. I mean, how many people can honestly say that they've had the chance to meet living gods? And to maybe fight alongside one of them. That'd be icing." Dew looked up to the night sky, reveling in the fantasies within her mind. When Velvet had to loudly remind her that she was driving, she continued. "Oh! Right, and number two is, well, a little childish."

"How do you figure on that?"

"It's because they were my heroes growing up. That story, and the possibility that there may indeed be four living legends out there, spreading good and helping people, got me through some of the hardest times in my life. Whenever I was close to the edge, the thought of those 4 would never fail to push me back. If I meet them, any of them, I want to thank them for what they've done for me."

Velvet reflected for a moment, remembering the similar feeling that she had felt any time that she was near her father as a child. She recalled how she used to feel that there was no foe that could best him, that he would always manage to find a way home to his family. When her train of thought began to make her feel homesick, Velvet returned her focus to Dew. "That doesn't seem childish at all. I, too have idolized people--figures, like that."

"Ok. Go on, though. What do the Maidens have to do with any of this? Are these people trying to hunt them down, or something?" She inquired, with a brief pause in between as she tried to answer her own question.

"Yes, you could say that. The people that we're going after are well-aware that, with the power of even one Maiden, they can be a force to be reckoned with. Any more, and they'd be nearly unstoppable." Not wanting to divulge too much information, Velvet conveniently skipped over the story of the Relics, and the hidden purpose of the 4 Academies.

 _She doesn't need to know about that one, right now. Later, maybe._ Velvet reasoned.

"Ok. So really bad people wanting to do really bad things to good people. Why destroy Shade, though? How does that get them further to their goal?"

Velvet had to consider the proper way to handle such a question. "Well, they think that there is some sort of...conduit that will show them the location of the Maidens." She fibbed.

"What will they do if the Maidens die? Then what?"

"They have ways of getting their power regardless."

"I see. Some bad guys that seem to have the upper hand at almost every turn. How quaint."

Velvet sighed. "Quite." The two rode on in silence further, until Dew broke it with another question. "Can I ask you something else?"

She had to consider whether or not she wanted to have another conversation in which she was forced to lie and omit, against her own wishes. Despite her instinct, Velvet agreed again.

"How did you manage to pull that greenish-looking shield out of that bag of yours? That's some seriously sweet tech."

Velvet unstrapped the pack at her hip, holding it in her lap. She caressed the brown box's linings and grooves. "It's a...projector of sorts. Whatever I weapon or equipment that I think of summoning, so long as I've taken a picture of it at some point in the past, can be brought up as a Hard-Light Copy through it. I can do it with my Semblance alone, but the projector makes the weapons more refined and easier to use in combat."

"Wow. That's really cool. What else can you do with your Semblance?"

The painful memory of the Fall of Beacon came to mind, forcing Velvet to turn away so Dew wouldn't see her eyes begin to water. "Nothing. That's all." She choked.

"Hey. Are you alright?" Dew asked, reaching a hand over to place it on Velvet's shoulder.

Despite her strong urge to brush it away, Velvet did not want to cause a scene with her new companion. "I'm fine."

"If you say so." Dew removed her hand and replaced it on the wheel, where the other had since found a place once more. "You know, I've never actually been out night-driving before. I don't know why everyone always says that the Grimm are more frequent out here at night. We've been out here for, what, 20 minutes, and I haven't seen--" Dew was cut off by a loud, inhuman screech in the distance. Dew careened to a stop, where she pulled off to the side of the road. "Velvet. What do you see? Can you see what that was?"

Velvet turned a sharp look to Dew. "Why are we stopping? We need to go--now!" She didn't have to see to recognize what kind of creature made such a noise.

"What are you talking about? Someone out there could be hurt, or--"

"If someone is out there, they're dead. We need to move, because whatever made that noise wasn't human."

Dew comprehended what Velvet had said, swore softly, then shifted the buggy into gear, doing her best to bury the needle of the speed gauge. Velvet kept her eyes peeled as they sped down the highway, looking for anything that could constitute as Grimm activity. It didn't take long before she caught sight of a dark mass slithering along the surface. Even with her vision, she couldn't make out what exactly the long mass was. Regardless, Velvet felt herself on edge as it came ever closer.

"Dew, step on it." She said bluntly.

"I literally can't go any faster than this. All I can tell you is hold onto something, because something tells me that it's about to get a little bumpy."

"Really, now?" Velvet said sarcastically in a voice that conveyed her panic. "What could possibly have given that away?"

"Oooh, the rabbit has claws." Dew joked.

Velvet bit her tongue in order to prevent herself from saying something insensitive, as was her nature to keep from such things. She still eyed the slithering beast. When it neared 10 meters, Velvet looked back to Dew.

"What are the rotation capabilities on those cannons?" She asked, pointing to the front of the buggy.

"A full 180 Degrees. Why? Are we going to need them?"

"I'm afraid so."

"Alright." Dew grabbed the controls for the cannon from the center console of the vehicle and tossed it into Velvet's lap without taking her eyes off of the road. "I'm not as good as you are in the dark, so you man the guns. If things get too hairy for Charlotte, I'll pull out and handle it on foot with you. Sound good?"

Velvet nodded silently, forgetting that Dew couldn't see her. "Yeah." She followed. "You ready?"

"To fight us some Grimm? Always."

"Let's do it." Velvet said just as the slithering creature, whom Velvet had determined was using some form of cloaking device, burst through the barrier of the highway, spraying sand onto the road and into the air. Velvet squinted, protecting her eyes from the sand, putting the cannon's sights over the invisible beast's shimmer, and firing. The two rounds of artillery hit, spraying a black mass over the asphalt and over its cloaking.

The Grimm withdrew its cloaking, revealing a large, cobra-like beast. Similar to the King Taijitu, the beast had a pair of large, blood-red eyes that gleamed in the headlights of Dew's buggy. Different however, was the number of heads as well as the color. The Grimm was black with white stripes, and donning only a single head. As it slithered its full body onto the road, Velvet surmised that the beast was, at the most, a full 5 meters long.

"What is that thing?" Velvet asked her native Sanusian companion.

"That's a Nagaina, one of the reasons while they don't let people out after dark. What a world, huh?" Dew joked.

"How do we kill it?" Velvet asked, ignoring the joke, and refusing to take her eyes off of the creature.

"No idea."

"What?" Velvet furiously asked, looking at Dew for a split-second; a costly move, as Velvet would think in retrospect.

As soon as she looked away, the Nagaina lunged its head at Velvet, spreading two flaps on either side of its head to form a sort of hood.

"You're guess is as good as--, Oh, crap! Look out!" Dew cried out as she leapt out of Charlotte.

Velvet leapt upwards out of the buggy, performing a somersault in the air. She landed on the back of the Nagaina as it continued its assualt on the now-empty car. Once she pressed all of her weight down on the scales of the beast, however, it quickly turned its head and snapped its fangs at Velvet. Velvet leapt off of the body of the creature onto the highway, looking back to see that it had bitten itself. Where the bite had been inflicted, Velvet saw that its skin had begun to dissolve under the venom that the Nagaina had spat.

"The venom is acidic. Of course." She observed gloomily. She called out her findings to Dew, whom she had no idea where she had gone.

The Nagaina struck again, leaving Velvet a more ample source of time to dodge the strike. She leapt upwards again, suddenly feeling the urgency to end the fight and carry on with their original task. With that, Velvet summoned a Hard-Light Copy of her friend Coco's rotary cannon. Facing upside down midair, Velvet balanced herself and began to fire upon the base of the neck of the Nagaina. As she began her descent, she dispelled it for a copy of Yatsuhashi's Greatsword. Allowing herself to begin spinning to gain momentum, she arched her back, as she had trained for this exact situation.

At the last possible moment, with a sense of Deja vu, Velvet struck down on the base of the Nagaina at a diagonal angle, failing to fell the beast. Quickly realizing that she had made a folly, Velvet jumped off of the Nagaina, spotting Dew as she had hit the ground. Without a word between either of them, Dew raised her staff and began to spin it in a circular motion.

With great relief and awe, Velvet watched as Dew formed three cyclones that advanced towards the wounded Nagaina. The swirls of air, upon touching its body, tore the Nagaina to shreds, allowing it to dissolve into a mist, as Grimm were prone to do.Velvet congratulated Dew, who simply walked back to her battered vehicle.

She cried out in anguish as, as Velvet saw, a large crack had been the result of the buggy taking the brunt of the Nagaina's attack. "Do you know how much this is going to cost to repair? Oh, when we find this Ratel chick, I am going to have to have a few choice words with her about how much of a pain she was to find." She turned to Velvet, after crying out, and said in a calm tone. "It's not safe here. We should go."

Velvet concurred, knowing that the slew of anxiety and negative emotions that they had experienced would only attract more of the Grimm. The two, slightly exhausted, slunk into their seats. Velvet pushed her hair out of her face, fully aware that there was a likely chance that it would go back once they were speeding down the road. Dew ran the buggy, then they sped away. Velvet couldn't help but admire that Charlotte, despite being knocked head-on by the head of a Nagaina, it was still able to purr like a kitten. The thought of small animals made Velvet think back to Ein, and subsequently, her family, who she hadn't seen since a week after the Fall of Beacon. She had resolved to herself on the ship ride over that, should she make it out of this mission alive, she wouldn't make the mistake of spending such an excessive amount of time on her work that the very people she was trying to help would suffer by her hand.

"Your friend has no idea that we're coming, does he?" Velvet asked, throwing out the first thought that came to mind for the sole purpose of getting family life off of her mind.

Dew laughed. "No. None at all. It's going to be quite the spectacle, I imagine."

Velvet couldn't help but share in the laughter, as well. She couldn't help but imagine just what that first encounter would look like. Then there was the small pang of anxiety of the idea of them being turned down at the door.

"Oh no. He wouldn't do that."

"How can you be so sure?"

"He's a teenage boy." She joked, leaning over to lightly tap Velvet's ribs. "Honestly, though. We go way back, back to when we were both scared kids who were just trying to make sense of the world. Back to before we understood that the world wasn't a place to be fully understood."

Velvet agreed, remembering to when her own eyes were violently opened to the harsh, complicated realities of the world of Remnant. There were times when she pretended that it had stopped, times like then, in that buggy. "I don't believe that you ever got around to telling me what his name was." She said, using an random thought to push away her painful memories once more.

"I did. You just didn't know it, then."

"We're staying with a gang-boss who's hiding in plain sight. We're going to my old attachment, Ceril."

"I thought that you said that your friend in Cleo was a grunt on the underground scene?" Velvet asked, scrunching her face in a puzzled manner.

"He is. You were wrong in assuming that 'Gang-leader' is synonymous with 'Kingpin'. Ceril has a gang, the Blue Devils, but he's no way a big gun in the underground scene. His members only think that. In reality, he lives in an apartment that's twice as bad as that one that we were in, working paycheck-to-paycheck in some rundown dive-bar that the scum of the town lives and breaths out of. He's at the bottom of the top, you see."

Velvet couldn't help but feel simultaneously surprised and underwhelmed by the description of this new character. Regardless, she stayed silent as Dew continued. "He's quite the complicated individual. But he's beneficial to us, so long as we provide the right price."

"I think that can be arranged." Velvet determined after a beat of pause.

Dew chuckled. "You know, I thought that you'd might say something like that. On the contrary, I'm not sure that it's just money that he's going to be after."

"What else could it be that he wants in payment?"

"If you haven't figured it out, based on what I alone told you, then you'll probably never figure out."


	10. The Velveteen Faunus: Volume 2, Chap 10

**_A word of caution to the readers: This is an EXTREMELY lengthy chapter. It's a little over 8,100 words, so keep that in mind when reading. For those brave enough to read on, first off, thank you! and secondly, enjoy the next amazing saga in Velvet's story!_**

"What are you thinking?" Velvet said, as they crossed into Cleo's borders.

Velvet had been given quite the period to be able to come up with some sort of appropriate plan of action. She gazed at the piece of paper once more, pulling it out of her pocket. She was well-aware that they were both exhausted and weary from fighting both man and Grimm the day before. Neither of them, no matter what lies they told each other or themselves to convince otherwise, were in any shape to fight. With that, she told Dew exactly what she thought.

"There's no doubt that someone gave word of what we've been up to, likely by messenger. They're expecting us. If we rush in now, weary and all, we're most certainly to be killed. But, if we wait until early morning, when most of their guards will be barely getting to work or asleep, then we'd have a better chance of getting in as well as getting out alive. For now, we regain our energy, and meet up with your friend. You have any idea where it is he even lives?"

Dew pulled her buggy off to the side of the road, next to a towering building. As Velvet had imagined, the city was a spitting image of the one that they had just occupied. Despite this, she was still filled with awe over the sprawling hub of life and human innovation. Her wonder was only broken by the sound of Dew's voice. "Well, I memorized the address of the last letter that he sent me. He moves every couple of months to make sure that no one can track him too easily. Let's see if his plan worked."

Velvet was slightly pushed back in her seat as Dew pulled back out into the street. Unlike Petra, there were less cars that lined the sidewalks. She brielfy pondered why it was that so many refused to use their vehicles, then she recalled the shocking news of the massive Dust embargoes around the entire planet. Such a train of thought led Velvet to a question that she had not thought of until that moment. "What is Charlotte powered by?" She thought aloud.

"Took you long enough to ask. Well. despite all of these other fools who rely on conventional, finite fuel supplies, I converted Charlotte to run on the one thing that this kingdom has a painful abundance of."

Velvet considered the riddle. "Sand?"

Dew stammered. "W--what? No, idiot. Sun!"

Feeling the sting of her intelligence being attacked, Velvet was, once again, put in awe at the idea of a vehicle that was powered by sunlight alone. "That's why she doesn't glow."

"You got that right, Country Girl. She glows in just about every way but." Dew jeered as she cut a corner, riding momentarily on the nearby curb, forcing a pedestrian to run into a building for safety. Velvet looked back to ensure that the frail, blonde woman was alright, then chastised Dew for practicing such unsafe driving techniques. "Oh, cry me a river. She's not dead, is she?" Dew looked back, along with Velvet, for a moment. "Seriously, though. She's alright?"

Velvet replied in the affirmative, giving Dew reason to sit in her seat straight again. Dew continued straight until they crossed paths with a small wooden house, in major need of repairs, sitting between two modern looking ramen-shops. Dew parked on the street in between them, and hopped out onto the sidewalk, taking off her riding goggles and tossing them nonchalantly into the driver's seat.

Velvet, fighting the urge to watch for passing cars that weren't there, took off her goggles and placed them in the center console. She hopped out onto the street and followed Dew to the adobe door of the house. Dew knocked on the door with the tip of her spear. "Ceril. Guess who's back in town?" She announced with a smirk.

Velvet eyed the sidewalk around them, looking for an ambush. As of late, it had occurred to Velvet that she had been displaying more and more signs of paranoia. She could not know for certain if such a condition was common in her line of work, but she had attributed her abillity to stay alive thus far to her hunches and feelings, so she did not consider it a problem just yet.

 _At what point does it become a problem, though?_

"Who is it? State your name and business." An older male voice from inside called through the door.

Dew looked back Velvet and scoffed. "You know who it is, moron. Now open the door."

"Name and business."

Dew groaned, placing her face in the palm of her free hand. "Dew Gayle, and my business is trying to fight the urge to kick this damn door down because you're being such a paranoid idiot."

A long silence ensued, then Velvet heard a long series of clicking in front of them. After some time like this, the door creaked open, revealing the man that Velvet had heard so much, yet so little about over the past day and a half. "Ok, ok, what's with all the hostility?" He said with a smirk.

"Oh, shut up. Now let us in." She brushed past Ceril, running her hand along his shirtless, undefined midsection. He slowly pulled up on his cerulean jeans, eyeing Velvet carefully, the smirk not leaving his face.

"Hello, there." He said with a bow, gesturing to welcome Velvet in. Velvet turned away to stifle a laugh at the zeal of his hostmanship. She returned the welcome with her own, small "Hello".

Velvet entered the room, that was a considerably larger apartment than that of the one that Dew had invited her in some time ago. The living area was tidy, painted beige with lime-green stripes along the otherwise blank walls. Other than a single couch and a relincer in the far corner, similar to Dew's arrangement, there was no furniture to speak of. Velvet did not see an area for which the television to be placed. There was a single hallway directly in front of Velvet that, presumably, led to the other areas of the apartment. In the corner of the room were four thick, but old books, arranged in a neat tower.

"What are you doing here, Dew?" Ceril said in a groan, rubbing the bridge of his nose with tips of his index fingers.

"Is that any way to welcome back one of your oldest friends after three years?"

"Well, you're not exactly the most welcome at the moment. If I recall correctly, the last time that we met up, I was left alone inside of a strange apartment of one of your exes that you talked me into helping you break into. Not exactly 'friend material'."

Dew looked back at Velvet with an awkward smile. "I'll explain later, I promise." She said in a light whisper before turning back to Ceril. "Well, if I recall correctly, you were being whiny and moaned a bunch of 'what-ifs' the whole time. Then, when you heard someone talking outside, you assumed it was the cops and said that they were outside. How was I supposed to know that the police didn't even know that we were there, and you were just being jumpy as always?"

"The point is, you bailed on me, and I nearly got my face pounded by a 300-pound fu--"

"Ok!" Velvet said, walking directly into the line of sight of the other two people in the room. "What happened in the past is irrelevant just now. What matters," Velvet turned to Ceril, whom she barely noticed was half-a-head shorter than her. "Is whether or not you can house us for a single night. If that is too much trouble, then we can easily find some sort of inn." Velvet knew that there was no such alternative. This was the only person that they could relatively trust in the entire city, and staying in a public place amidst hundreds of strangers would bring about unwanted and unnecessary risk. "Is that something that you can accomodate?" She said in a tone that, while she was trying to remain gentle, came off as stern and impatient.

She caught sight of Ceril's cheeks begin to turn red, shortly before he broke eye-contact with Velvet. He looked to the ground while tilting his head to the right. His hand reached up and rubbed his hand along his neck. "Well, since you asked nicely, sweethe-"

Surprising even herself, Velvet was pushed out of the way as Dew grabbed Ceril by the collar, and lifted him up in the air. "Now, listen here. There's not gonna be any of that desperate crap here. You give her a straight answer, and no flirty, subtle hitting crap. Got it?"

Ceril lifted his hands up in defense. "Alright. Alright. Hey, I'm sorry, err, Velvet, right?"

Velvet nodded, conflicted of whether to feel pity or pride. "It's alright. It's nothing I haven't seen or heard before." She said, waving away Ceril and offering a superficial smile.

"It's just a force of habit, I swear." He looked over Dew's shoulder for a moment, then turned to face her. "Isn't that right, miss--" He began to say in a seductive voice when he was dropped to the ground.

"You're such a pig." She said with a sigh. "I'm sorry, Velvet. He wasn't exactly the most popular kid growing up, and, when he started to be the local gang bosses' errand boy, his repuatation went down to crap."

"Hey, hey! I wasn't just an 'errand boy', I was their 'go-to guy' for any special jobs." He said with pride, which left a disgusting feeling in the pit of Velvet's stomach.

"You were a criminal. That's nothing to take pride in. You're no better than the people who murdered my friends, who are working to murder yours." Velvet slipped before she could stop herself. Dew and Ceril alike exchanged confused glances, then turned to her.

"I'm sorry?" Ceril said timidly. Dew put a hand on his shoulder and leaned. "She's been through a lot. Try not to irk her too much, got it? She has a reason for everything that she does and say." She turned on her heels and walked over to Velvet, placing a hand on her shoulder and leaning in to her ear. "I know that this is your operation, but rest-assured that the first time that you do something erratic like that on the battlefield, make a mistake that can get us killed, I will not hesitate to walk out. Got it?"

Her blood boiling, Velvet couldn't help but retort. "Rest assured. I do not take kindly to threats. Got it?"

Dew backed away, looking Velvet in the eyes. Velvet caught sight of a small smile pass her lips, then a nod. She turned back to face Ceril. "Alright, C. Are we going to be able to crash here for a night or what?"

"Well, what exactly are you and your friend doing in Cleo?" He asked, tilting his head to look warily to Velvet again.

"If you must know, we're trying to stop some bad people from doing some very bad things. That's the best way to put it."

Ceril grunted lightly, seemingly unsure of whether the answer that Dew gave was sufficient. "Like...White Fang bad?" He followed with.

"Worse." She cast another sideways glance at Velvet.

Ceril stammered, obviously disturbed that such an entity should exist. "W--what? What do you mean 'worse'?!" He nearly shrieked.

"Hey, hey. Calm down. They're not going to come after our friends, if that's what you're worried about. At least, I don't think so. Either way, it's just one night, then we're out of your hair forever. Ok?" She asked, taking on a consoling tone.

Ceril groaned in conflict. He shoved his hands in his pockets and looked up to the ceiling. "Oh, alright. Fine! One night, then you two are out by morning. Got it?" He pointed a finger towards Dew.

Dew chuckled, then slowly gripped Ceril's finger, gently pushing it down. "It'll be like we were never even here." Once again, Ceril began to blush. He began to stammer a reply, but Dew turned and faced Velvet. "You got all your stuff?"

Velvet nodded, clutching her satchel that had not left her side since they had left Tanzig. Dew nodded in reply, then began walking down the hallway at the other end of the room. "Alright. Which of these rooms are up for sleeping in?"

"Uh--t--take your pick."

"Alright. Velvet, if it's alright with you, we can bunk together. That way, should the crap hit the fan while we're here, we can have each other's backs in an instant."

"Wait, what--?"

"Sounds good." Velvet calmly replied, accidentally stepping over Ceril's words.

"Ok. Ceril. I want you to stay here in the living room. The last thing that either of us want to worry about is some peeping Tom. I hope you understand."

"Wait. If I'm in here, I'm going to be the first one to get picked off by anyone who tries to break in."

Dew laughed sarcastically. "Yeah, you're so 'helpless'." Dew walked over to the couch and felt along the armrest's border. After a brief "Aha!" she pressed a button that blended in with the color scheme of the immaculate white couch, which flipped up the cushions to show a small arsenal of a single shotgun, machine gun, and two pistols that were surrounded with extra ammunition. "Any other concerns that I can debunk for you?"

Ceril sighed. "No." He said with much chagrin in his voice.

"Good. Velvet, if you'll follow me, I'll show you the grand suite. Ceril's not the type to change the arrangement of his house, so I can remember where the bedroom is."

Velvet and Dew walked down a narrow hallway that left no door closed, no closet locked. She began to get the inclination that there was something more to this Ceril character than a simple case of paranoia. She kept her concerns quiet, however, as Dew opened a door that gave way to a basic bedroom.

There was no decorations on the walls, only a Scroll that was beginning to gather dust on an endtable. The bed was nothing more than a matress pressed against the baseboard of the wall to their left. To their immediate right, there was a small, white dresser and a closed closet that Velvet hoped only held clothes inside. The walls were only white, no other color allowed to adorn. It was while she was inspecting the walls that she caught sight of something startling.

On the wall furthest from them, Velvet saw an array of pictures and news articles taped to each other with colorful red tape. It seemed that Ceril was in fact conducting an investigation of his own. She walked closer, and saw that there were several news articles, handwritten notes, and pictures of seemingly random events that Ceril's mind had tied together. Velvet ran her fingers along the texture of the tape, reading the headlines, and pictures. Some of them were familiar, such as the Beacon breach and the Fall of Beacon. Because of this, Velvet caught sight of herself in more than a few of the pictures on the wall. Her eyes then fell on one that immediatley made her go cold. It was a picture of her from behind, rising high in the air with a greenish-blue glow, like the hue of her Semblance copies, with a dead Rojo's feet protruding from behind a pillar nearby.

 _Where did he get this? How did he get this?_

At that moment, Dew walked over and looked at the photograph that Velvet had been glazing over. "Huh. That's a pretty epic shot. You know where it's from?"

"It's Beacon." Velvet said before she could convince herself to lie. Dew simply let out an "Oh." Velvet remained silent, looking on at the picture in pained silence.

"Here," Dew finally said, tearing the picture off and lifting up Velvet's hand by the wrist, placing it in her open palm. "If you ever get around to wondering what it is that we're fighting for, or doubting yourself, look at this. Remember what we all sacrificed for humanity, just like she did. I have the sneaking suspicion that we're going to be feeling a lot of that in the near-future."

Dew looked at the picture for another second, then placed it in a small pocket in her satchel. She turned to see that Dew had changed into a pair of black athletic shorts and a maroon undershirt. Velvet couldn't help but notice thin scars that ran across her pale legs. When she noticed that Dew noticed her looking, she looked away and changed into her own, similar sleepwear. The duo neatly folded their clothes and laid them over the useless Scroll on the endtable, laying their respective armor pieces on top of them. Dew's spear was laid along the length of the mattress, according to her own tastes.

The two laid down onto the bare matress. It wasn't until then that Velvet came to realize just how cold the bedroom was. "Dew?" She began.

"Say no more. I'll go out and raid that linen closet, see if I can't at least find us a sheet. He's always had some crazy idea that constantly being in the cold at night will toughen him up. As if living in the most arid climate in the world wasn't enough!" Dew proclaimed with outstretched arms as she raised her hands up to the ceiling.

Within the course of a full minute, Dew exited the room and returned with a smile and a fitted sheet wrapped up in a ball in her hands. "Tell me I'm amazing."

Velvet grabbed half of the sheet, then pulled it over her body. Dew performed the same action, both closing their eyes. "Dew. Don't you think that we should keep our armor on, just in case something happens?"

In a groggy voice, Dew laughed. "Don't worry. Even half-dressed, I'm sure that we could kick butt and take names. We'll be fine."

Velvet shifted onto her back, looking up at the blank, white ceiling. She pondered what the next day would bring, and whether or not she would meet her enemy head-on once more.With that, she wondered the same thing that she found herself asking the same question that she had been asking herself for quite some time, ever since she had begun to comprehend the level of danger that came with the territory of both her mission and her job in general (the latter never being more apparrent than it was then).

She curled her lip as she begun to hear Dew's light snoring next to her. Velvet felt afraid, as she had been ever since she had stepped off of the boat that brought her to Vacuo. She reached over to her satchel and withdrew the commemorative coin that she had found on said boat ride. It was oddly soothing to her to massage her fingers along the rough edges, feeling the carvings of the faces of the two kings on either side.

They sacrificed so much, and expected so little in return. All they asked for was trust, in return to do the right thing. Reminds me of Kandase. I wonder how she's doing now.

Velvet shook her rambling thoughts away, for she knew that they were the seeds with which the fruits of a restless night are sowed. She took a deep breath, and tried in vain to go to sleep once more. Refraining from tossing and turning so as to not bother the sleeping Dew, she simply laid there.

Her breathing began to become lighter, and her body began to become run over with the rare sensation of relaxation. The vulnerability frightened her, but she knew that she would not have to endure it long. Her eyelids grew heavy, and all of her worries about what could possibly go wrong during the next day. All of her feelings of negativity melted away with her conciousness.

 _We'll do what has always worked before. Just making a plan and rolling with whatever happens afterwards._

And that was how Velvet had the most peaceful sleep that she'd had thus far while in Vacuo.

*

"Well. This is a tad..." Dew began, then trailed.

"Overwhelming? Yeah." Velvet finished, looking up the place that the small piece of paper had led them to along with her counterpart.

It was a large manor, resting atop a large dune on the opposite end of the city. It was a baby-blue mansion, with a single wing to the left of them. There were white borders along every doorway and window along the front of the house. The windows were tinted, so dark that even Velvet's enhanced vision was not able to comfortably see through. She could see, however, that every window was covered on the inside by white curtains that were bordered with white frills. "It seems like she was going for a theme here." Velvet said, trying to lighten the mood.

"It would seem so. You think that she's in here?"

"I have no idea." Velvet said with a pang of anxiety. "I suppose that there's only one way to find out, isn't there?"

Dew laughed, hefting her spear in both of her hands. "Yeah. The most fun way possible."

"Let's try not to go overboard, okay?" Velvet instructed.

Dew sighed. "I'll try my best. No promises." Velvet wasn't quite convinced that Dew was sincere, but said nothing.

Then, as if they had just became aware of what was going on outside their doors, a group of near-identical guards burst through the white double-doors of the mansion. They raised their weapons, and began to shout commands towards Dew and Velvet. "Drop your weapons, now! Er, weapon. Whatever. Drop it!"

Dew turned to Velvet, a small smile beginning to creep on her face. "Velvet, I can't help but feel that these punks look a little bit like the ones who shot at Charlotte back in Tanzig. I mean, I'm sure that they weren't actually there, but it seems that I need to let out a few negative emotions. Why don't you see if you can't find a new way in? I'm sure that I'll be totally fine out here."

"Are you sure?" Velvet asked.

"Yeah. I'll try my best to not make a big mess along all of this white." She joked.

"Yes, do." Velvet replied, half-joking herself.

Velvet ran away, expecting to need to dodge bullets. However, a strong wind and some screams filled the air, and Velvet knew that she didn't need to worry about what was going on behind her, for Dew was in total control.

Rounding the corner of the wing of the mansion, Velvet looked for a secondary door to go through. When she could find none, she looked up, where a window was conveniently left open.

Velvet considered using her Semblance, but she reconsidered when she knew that all of her strength would be required to go up against an opponent such as Honey Ratel, who she surmised to have spared no expense when it came to preparing for their next confrontation. Instead, she found a fire-ladder nearby, going up to a window that neighbored the one she desired.

Without wasting another moment, Velvet leapt up to reach the ladder that was in its retracted state a half meter above. Once she clutched the bar, she began to climb with fervor. Though it physically strained her to climb, Velvet continued on. After a minute of climbing, Velvet reached the top of the ladder. Once there, she leapt across the gap to the open window.

After looking in, she learned that the room was in fact empty. Velvet rolled onto her back, gaining entry into the mansion. She saw that the room was, in fact, a storage locker for cases upon cases of beef ramen. Unconcerned with the eating habits of her enemy, she ran out of the room, checking the state of the hallway first.

Velvet ran down the length of the hall, opening each door to find that there was only more stacks of boxes of beef ramen. Velvet wondered how a woman could eat so much ramen, then she came across a room whose walls were lined with metal racks that contained dozens of bottles of sriracha sauce.

 _What is it with this woman?_

Velvet shook her head in perplexion, then continued on. She reached the last room, wary of what she would find on the other end of this door.

 _So help me, if I see another box of ramen._

She slowly crept the door open, a small squeak filling the air. She saw that there was a mahogany desk outfitted with a single chair on either side, the one closest to Velvet being an ornate, wooden chair with leather seating, as well as two bookshelves on either side of the indigo room. Behind the desk, next to a bay window that overlooked the rising sun, Velvet caught sight of Honey Ratel's streaked head popping over the top of the black desk chair. Upon hearing the squeaking of the opening door, the chair began to swivel around.

Velvet got low, into her fighting stance, unsure what kind of weapon it was that rested in Ratel's lap, or what devious plan of attack it was that she had in mind to unleash on a semi-unsuspecting Velvet. She placed all of her focus, watching as the chair slowly rotated to put her face-to-face with the entire reason for her being in Vacuo. Nothing could prepare Velvet for what she was about to meet.

Ratel sat, in her swivel chair, armed with nothing more than a pair of chopsticks and a overflowing, white ceramic bowl of dark ramen with pieces of celery and beef scattered in its depths. Her hair was stringy and unkempt, her bangs in her hair, as opposed to the way that it was secured on the top of her head in thier first meeting. In her mouth was a single noodle that strung down to beyond her chin. She met Velvet with a set of surprised eyes, as if she wasn't expecting to meet her at all.

"Oh sh--" Ratel quickly slurped her noodle into her mouth. "Velvet! It has been way too long...or three days. I don't really remember. Anyways, it's great to see you again! What are you doing here? Oh wait." She looked down at her noodles, then shot her head up. "That's why everyone was freaking out and saying, (Ratel dropped her voice down an octave to impersonate one of her guards) 'Boss, you need to get in a safe place. Don't come out unless it's absolutely necessary.' Makes total sense, now. Anyway, what are you doing here?"

Velvet, still in complete shock at just how wrong she had been when it came to expecting what to find with Ratel. "I--" She took a deep breath, then collected herself. "I'm here to bring you in to justice."

Ratel stayed silent for a moment, then spurted out a laugh. "Justice? What why you want to bring me to justice? What am I doing that's illegal?"

"You know what it is that you're doing. You're plotting on destroying Shade."

"What? Why would I destroy Shade? That place made me into the woman that I am today. True, I didn't take the most righteous path, but I would never try to take it down."

"Then what are you planning?"

Ratel tutted, putting her chopsticks up to keep Velvet from talking. "First, let me finish my ramen."

"I don't think that I'm going to--"

"Bup Bup Bup! I never thought I'd ever have to explain this to a fellow woman. Never disturb a woman while she's eating her ramen. Rule number one with me." She wrapped another mass of noodles around the chopsticks and placed them in her mouth. "Now, tell me, Velvet." She began with a full mouth. "How did you find out about this place?"

"That doesn't matter."

"Well, crap." She swallowed the noodles in her mouth. "Excuse me for trying to be a good host and trying to make you feel welcome. Sheesh. Just let me finish my ramen."

Velvet, in the infancy of her career, was unsure how to handle such bizarre behaivor. In a hurry to restrain Ratel, she moved forward, and snatched the bowl out of Ratel's hand. "I don't mean to be unkind, but we don't have time to wait for you to finish eating. You need to answer to the accusations against you."

Scowling, Honey snatched her bowl from Velvet faster than she could even comprehend what was going on. "I will tell you when and if I am good and ready. For now, I am going to eat my lunch, and you can meet me downstairs if you wish to try to take me in."

"Well--"

Ratel moved her chopsticks to the space between her thumb and palm, exposing her palm to Velvet. "Those are my terms. Either take them or get out. Either way, I win."

Velvet, seeing no way around it, took a seat and sat across from Honey Ratel. Her uncomfort level was at an all-time high, but she didn't allow her expression to show it. When Ratel saw her sit, she scoffed. "Sure, just sit wherever, I guess, Thanks for asking." she said sarcastically. Velvet couldn't help but feel a bit awkward, and her the corner of her mouth twinged. Ratel saw this, causing her to grunt in an amused manner.

"Alright. Well, I suppose that since I'm so 'evil' or whatever, I should play the part and tell you just what it is that I want to do."

"That would be awfully curteous of you." Velvet said curtly.

"After I'm done eating, though. I can't stand to have my meal spoiled by business during a meal."

Velvet crossed her arms, beginning to grow restless. While she wanted answers, Ratel seemed to be only toying with her, manipulating her.

 _And you're letting her._

"Ok, Ratel. Your meal is going to be when we're done. While you're in prison, I can arrange to have all of this ramen and sriracha sent to you."

Ratel, rather than rise from her seat, leaned back, cackling. "You think that I'd put that crap on my precious ramen? No way. I only use the most natural sauce of all."

Hesitantly, Velvet inquired further. "What is it?"

Ratel reached under her desk, sending Velvet on edge. "Easy." Ratel reasoned. She withdrew a bottle of sriracha, tossing it underhanded at Velvet. Velvet, morbidly curious, squeezed a small drop on her finger and pressed the tip to her tongue. The taste was sickeningly familiar.

"It's bloo--" She couldn't fully reveal the revelation, however, as Ratel leapt over her desk with a short, curved saw in hand. Before Velvet could dodge, Ratel slashed at her shoulder, opening a large wound down to her ribs.

"Blood!" Ratel shouted, performing a backflip back onto her desk. She ran the black blade with silver borders to her tongue and, to Velvet's disgust, licked off the red on the saw. "Oooh, yours is awfully sweet. I gotta say, Watts really knows what incentives to give us wayward youths when he wants us to shoot to kill, or cut, in my case. Tell, you what, Velvet. I'll give you a headstart. Find us a more open venue where my precious ramen won't be harmed, and I'll make sure that you go quick. Maybe I'll even refrain from taking your blood. Big maybe, there, though. I do rather enjoy the taste of yours." Ratel's eyes dialated as she spoke. Velvet couldn't help but feel like the upper canines that protruded from Ratel's mouth began to glisten.

"I'm not running." Velvet said, keeping her eyes on Dew. She activated her Aura, and her wound began to recede.

Ratel looked up to the ceiling. Velvet followed her gaze to see nothing. That was when she realized it was but a trick. "Then I'll move you myself." Ratel leapt off of the desk and clutched Velvet by the shoulders. Rather than attack, she threw Velvet out the bay window to the ground two stories below.

Despite being in immense pain, Velvet rose and got into her fighting stance once more. Ratel stood from the windowsill, looking down on Velvet with a sadistic grin, a malicious chuckle passing her lips as she licked them. "You know, you wanted so badly to know what it was that I was doing? That Watts was helping me with? I'll be glad to tell you now. Now that I'm bored with the ramen, anyway." She dove down onto the sand with a thud, leaving a small crater underneath her. "Have you ever wondered what the solution to the Grimm and Human conflict was? Did it occur to you just what it was that could stop all of the bloodshed? All of the death on both sides?"

Velvet shook her head. She was sure that the question was rhetorical. "That's easy. The annilhation of the Grimm."

"Wrong!" Velvet was almost caught off guard as Honey dove for her once more, slicing the air with her saw. "You sound just like everyone else! You think that the only answer to death is killing, that the only way to honor the sacrifices of our forefathers is to pile more sacrifice on top!" She performed another flash-step, giving Velvet just enough time to time to backflip out of the way. "No! It doesn't make sense. I've found an alternative solution." She cackled, as if her hidden cure to the bloodshed and the inherent lack of awareness among the rest of the world was the greatest joke ever told. "I may kill you, but you deserve to know, being such a brave child. The key," She lunged again, this time with her fangs bared. When Velvet managed to grab her by the scruff of the neck and throw her down to the ground. Honey rolled onto her back, then back onto her feet, seemingly unaffected by the assault. "Is assimilation. The only way that we can all live in harmony is if we are one and the same."

"What are you talking about?"

Ratel groaned. "You naive child!" She dropped her saw and flash-stepped once more, attempting to throw a punch towards Velvet. She dodged almost a second too late, the powerful strike nicking her chin, sending her flying into the wall next to them. She was knocked onto her knees, regaining her stance quickly, however, as Ratel again went on the offensive. "If you can't understand what I mean, then I'm only wasting the energy I could be using to kill you!" She shrieked.

Velvet strafed as Honey clawed at her throar. She watched as Ratel's shoulder slammed into the wall where she herself had left a crater. "Assimilation, kid! Making Grimm and human one and the same!"

Velvet stopped dead in her tracks, shocked at what she had just heard. "That's impossible!"

Another cackle from Ratel. "Not anymore! I figured it out! And, even though all of the people like you who claimed that it was 'impossible', I will prove to the world that it is a change for the better! The world will be forced to look on at the future of Remnant as their children are the harbingers of a new world!" Ratel kicked upwards, aiming for Velvet's chin once more. Velvet crossed her arms over her face, defending herself but sending her feet sliding back in the sand. She attempted to kick Ratel, but she flash-stepped away just before the hit landed. Velvet placed her foot on sure ground once more, looking around her to see that Ratel had disappeared.

She frantically looked around her, trying to see where her enemy had gone. Her ears began to flicker with anxiety, her eyes scanning the sand around them as well as the manor. Velvet's ears were filled with an ear-splitting battle cry behind her. She turned to see Ratel flying down towards her from the roof. She turned her heels to face Velvet, landing them both in the square of her chest.

Velvet was filled with pain that stemmed from the attack. She fell to her side and began to roll down the dune. Once she realized what was happening, she clawed at the sand and dug through it with her feet, trying to get a foothold. After several seconds of effort, she succeeded in stopping herself and rushed back up the dune.

Once she reached the peak, Ratel was there waiting for her. "Oh. You're not dead. How fortunate. I'd hate to have lost my playmate that early on." Ratel popped her neck, and jogged over to Velvet. "I must say. I'm getting awfully bored of wiping the floor with you. Oh, wait." She put a finger to her lips and gazed introspectively in the air. "No, I'm not." She said with a giggle, turning a sadistic eye on Velvet once more. She sprinted towards Velvet, almost faster than she could track.

Ratel leaped into the air, rearing back her fist, the sun directly behind her. Although Velvet had difficulty seeing the specifics of Ratel, she was able to see the trajectory of her strike and plan accordingly.

Velvet formed a plan, waiting for Ratel to get close enough to the ground. Once she was there, Velvet dove out from Ratel's shadow, then jumped upwards. She spun in the air, sticking her heel out and aiming for the small of Ratel's back. The attack connected, and Ratel was sent flying into the ground. Before Velvet could follow up with another move, Ratel disappeared once more.

Going rigid, she turned her head around, trying to locate her opponent once more. "You're fast, Velvet." Ratel's voice caused Velvet to turn to her left, where she crouched with her chin resting on her palm, her other hand resting on the hilt of her curved saw. Her eyes conveyed a sense of dominance, which pushed beyond the levels of her usual boundaries of annoyance. In a blind rage, she ran towards her and attempted to perform a helicopter kick. Ratel flash-stepped out of harm's way, lingering by Velvet's ear. "It's too bad that I'm faster."

Ratel slammed her fist into Velvet's cheekbone, sending her sliding into the sand. Velvet crawled onto her back once more, trying to get back up, but Ratel placed a foot on her chest, keeping her down. "You know, my bloodlust factor is starting to wear off. It's a lot like when someone gets drunk and the hangover begins, you see. So, we have two options. I can simply kill you when it's still the most enjoyable for me to do so, or I can be a merciful hypocrite, and allow you to live, fight, and be a proverbial thorn in my side for another day. Perhaps if you beg, I'd be more inclined to provide said merciful accomodations."

Despite her conditions, Velvet couldn't help but smile. "Not on your life. Not on mine."

"Arrogant brat, you have quite the mouth...I like that." She dashed away, brandishing her saw. Ratel gazed questioningly around, tipping her head. "That just saved your life."

Ratel leapt off of Velvet, swiftly kicking her in the head in the process and knocking her unconcious. "Rest assured. If I see you again, I won't hesitate to kill you." She said shortly before.

It took several minutes before Dew awoke an unconcious Velvet by shouting her name. "Are you alright?" She asked when Velvet arose.

She rested on her forearms, her head throbbing. Velvet looked up at a concerned Dew. "Where did Ratel go?" Were the first words to pass her lips.

"Calm down, Velvet. She got away. From the looks of it, you had one heck of a fight. I'm surprised that she left you alive, to be honest. Unless you got each other out cold."

Velvet, upon hearing of the abscence of Ratel, fell back to the ground, slamming her fist into the sand. "Again."

"What?" Dew asked.

"Nothing. Dew, I need to ask you something."

"Um, alright." She agreed, confused. "What is it?"

"Has anyone ever bested you when you fought with your Semblance?"

Dew gave Velvet a quizzical look. "Not that I'm aware of. Why? You planning on taking me on or something? Because it doesn't seem like you're in much shape to do it right now."

Velvet sat up, pain shooting from her lower back to the rest of her body. "No. She's a flash-step user. That's the advantage that she's always used in every one of our encounters. If I take that away from her, then she's no better a fighter than I am. We use the same style of fighting, so I need to level the playing field."

"Ok, first off, you need to cool off, alright? I'm not going to start being the sparring partner to someone who doesn't seem to have the strength to even stand. Just take a rest for a second? It's not like anything else is going to go down this very second."

Then, an explosion within the city could be heard by both of them. Velvet's hearing picked up on the sound of faint automatic weapons' fire as well. "Well, crap. Ok, forget what I said, then. Velvet, you up for taking down some more goons?"

Velvet climbed onto her kness, then, with the help of Dew, onto her feet. "I suppose I don't have much of a choice, do I? There's someone who needs our help, and we have a job to do. They won't wait for Graduation Day."

She began walking when she realized Dew had remained still. Upon turning, Dew revealed what was on her mind, a confused expression on her face. "What makes you mention Graduation Day?"

Velvet then realized that she had, indeed, quoted Blake again. "Oh, nothing. It's just a phrase that my friend used to say. We should go." She suggested, throwing a finger over her shoulder to the smoke that was now beginning to rise over Cleo's skyline.

"Good idea."

The two piled into the vehicle that was parked a safe distance away from Ratel's manor. Velvet saw the leagues of unconcious guards in the front of the house. "You really did a number on them." Velvet observed in passing.

"Yeah. And don't worry, Miss Anti-Killing, I didn't off any of them. It was a pain, but I made sure to. So, you're welcome."

Velvet chuckled, but was still silently irritated at being dubbed an 'Anti-Killer' as if it was a derogatory label. "Thank you." She said, regardless.

The two sped down the dune. During which, Velvet saw that her mini-jacket and undershirt were badly torn during the battle with Ratel. She ran her hands along the slash, then reached into her satchel, where she removed a new top, identical to the damaged one. She replaced it, and sought to repair it later. Dew noticed. "Oh, that's an improvement. The thing was practically hanging on by a thread. Less of a liability."

"Says the one who fights in a dress." Velvet joked as they drove along. She laughed, but her abdomen began to burn as a result.

"Hey!" Dew shouted, pointing an accusatory finger towards Velvet. "I am just talented enough to pull it off." She said, before laughing as well.

The two reentered the city and took several minutes to locate the exact point from where the smoke originated. "Oh, damn." Dew said under her breath as they rounded the last corner to see what precisely had been put under siege.

Ceril's hut in-between the two shops was ablaze, wreckage scattered in the streets. There were two black sedans, with darkened windows, that appeared to be armored, blocking out each side of the street leading to the house. Velvet counted four guards, in colors sported by Honey Ratel's gang, firing upon the front of Ceril's hut with machine guns. They kept their cover behind the rears of the wide sedans, none of them noticing their arrival, initially.

"How are we going to do this?" Dew asked, looking over to Velvet.

"We save Ceril."

"Well, no duh. I mean, how?" Dew replied. "Wait, scratch that. I know how. Hold on to something."

Knowing better than to question what it was that Dew had in mind, Velvet grabbed onto the roll cage of the buggy, and gripped it tight. At the last possible moment, Velvet knew what it was that Dew was planning.

Dew slammed her foot into the pedal of the vehicle. The revving of the engine caught the attention of the nearest gang members who began to fire upon the incoming vehicle. Dew and Velvet both kept their heads down, but did not relent. "Here we go!" Dew said.

Charlotte slammed into the sedan, sending it on its side. "Velvet. I'll lay some cover here. Go inside and see if Ceril isn't already dead." She said as she moved around the damaged armored car. Velvet nodded and hopped out of the buggy, headed towards the burning building. She stepped through the demolished remains of the doorway, eyeing the burning wreckage. As she was looking through the smoke with watering eyes, a single pistol round whizzed over her shoulder. Giving her reason to think that Ceril had already been compromised. A nasally voice from within the smoke gave her reason to believe otherwise, however. "Stay back! I shoot to kill!"

"Ceril. It's Velvet! Dew and I are here to get you out!"

"Who? The rabbit girl?"

Pushing her offense aside, Velvet replied in the affirmative with much reservation about the nickname cringing at the sound of it as well as her mental repetition of the name.

"Alright! We don't have long. I set a charge to blow this place away!"

Why? Velvet wondered, considering the fact that the entire building would be nothing but ashes in a few minutes.

She saw Ceril come from the area of his bedroom, through the smoke, with a machine gun and shotgun strapped over his back as well as a single pistol in each hand. Velvet saw that, loosely fitted around his thin waist, was a brown, leather belt that contained an array of shells, bullets, clips and magazines. Although she thought he looked ridiculous, Velvet bit her tongue and rushed Ceril outside. He hopped into the bed of the buggy while Velvet jumped back into her seat. "I can provide support from back here, Dew."

"You were always a lousy shot, but whatever." She replied as they sped away, amidst heavy gunfire.

"Velvet, how are we going to make sure that these jerk-offs don't follow us?"

Apparently feeling the need to be dramatic, Ceril replied. "That's how." Despite nothing happening. Dew gave him an incredulous look.

"Ceril, what the heck are you talk--"

She was cut off by a large explosion behind them that decimated whatever it was that Ceril had to hide inside. Velvet watched as the gang-members, as well as their cars, were blown back by the force of the blast. Dew saw from the rearview mirror, then turned to face Ceril's self-satisfied smirk. "I hate you." was all that she said before turning back to face the road.

"I know you do." Ceril said, lying on his back amidst the equipment with his head resting on his folded arms.

They drove in silence until they managed to leave the gates that allowed them passage out of the rear of the city. Upon leaving the walls, Velvet was put in awe by the distant, yet still massive rock formations that loomed directly ahead of them.

"What are those?" Velvet asked, not being able to recall the last time that she saw something that was so massive.

"Those..." Ceril interjected, after turning to see just what it was that had captivated Velvet. "Are the Ra'noh Mountains. They lead over into Mosaic Canyon. They're the tallest land mass in all of Sanus. If memory ser--"

"Ceril! Don't be a nerd." Dew chided from the front seat. Velvet didn't mention it, but she was more than eager to learn more about the land ahead of them. Even so, she didn't want to drive down a wedge, Velvet remained silent. "Alright, so I got the feeling that we're probably the most wanted people in the underworld of Vacuo after that last little stunt. Velvet, feel free to object here, but I think that we should camp out in those mountains for the night."

"In the Ra'Nohs? Are you kidding? Don't you remember all of the stories about the Grimm up there?"

Not responding to Ceril, Dew looked over to Velvet. "Well, you wanted some training time. Sounds like you're going to get it. If you want, of course."

Velvet looked out at the midday sky, the barren desert that surrounded them, and the horizon where they met.

"It sounds perfect."

 ** _END OF PART 1_**


	11. The Velveteen Faunus Vol 2 Chap 11

Velvet looked around at the boulders and rock formations as they passed through a rough trail that led to the peak of the nearest mountain in the system. She was unaware of whether or not there were Grimm who were hunting them, and that made her terribly uneasy.

"Take it easy, Velvet. The Grimm in these parts aren't exactly the 'hide-and-stalk' type. If they wanted to attack, then they would by now." Dew said, in an attempt to ease Velvet's obviously steady nerves. Although it failed to do so, Velvet thanked Dew for the effort, staying in her current position to keep herself occupied.

"That sure doesn't ease my nerves." Ceril chipped in, his back to the Huntresses up front as he provided what he called 'support from the rear', his dual pistols in-hand and his machine gun sitting in his lap.

"Shut it, Ceril. It wasn't supposed to calm you down. It was just an observation."

"It was a dang bad one."

"Hey, you know, if you don't like it, we can always leave you here, where you can protect your own rear." Dew threatened, looking back to Ceril.

Ceril turned his head to look back at Dew. "Point taken. Sorry." He said as he raised the ends of his pistols in the air. Dew sighed, looking up at the sky for a brief moment before turning her eyes back to the road. She looked back at Velvet, but said nothing.

While Velvet knew that any agreement of thiers would not be able to last long-term with such hostilities, she remained silent for the time being. She did not wish to take sides in the bickering, especially since she knew not from where it stemmed. Velvet saw all of this happen out of the corner of her eye, turning away only when she saw Dew turn to look at her.

The sky was beating down upon them, and Velvet noticed that she was the only one who was producing sweat. In her mind, it was just another reminder that she was an outsider among Vacuo natives, meddling in Sanusian affiairs. She shook away such negative thoughts out of fear of attracting the Grimm.

"We should find a place to camp soon." Velvet said, when the silence was becoming too much to bear.

"Yeah. But I don't think so, not now, I mean. We should make as much ground as we can get while the sun's down. Even then, it's too dangerous to be out here in the open for long. I say two hours sleep for all of us, 6 total of rest, each of us taking four hour's watch. How does that sound to you?" Dew asked.

"That sounds good to me. What about you, Ceril?" Velvet turned, seeing obvious discomfort from the driver of the buggy.

"I agree. I'm fine with the arrangements." He said, not bothering to turn around to face Velvet.

The three continued on, and Velvet couldn't shake the feeling that they were being watched by something, or someone. She turned her head out once more, gazing on at the rock formations. Although she was uneasy about another encounter so soon, her soreness did not stop her from feeling the need to get her feet back into the heat of battle.

 _In time, in time._ Velvet reasoned. _There's no way you can save the people and Shade if you're dead._

An entire three hours more passed like this, until Dew stopped the vehicle once more, turning to Velvet. Ceril turned to face Dew as well, but received no adknowledgement or response in general.The sun had begun to set, casting shadows across the land. The boulders, to Velvet, appeared more menacing than before, setting her on edge even more so than before.

"What's going on?" Velvet asked, uncertain of the reasoning behind the addition of their new veulnerability.

"I was thinking something. Back when we were at the mansion, you told me something. You remember? Or were you too deslusional to recall?"

"Is this really the time?" Velvet asked, further on edge as a result of, as she saw it, the unnecessary stop.

"No, but it was just a random thought that popped into my head. We can keep on." She slowly pressed down on the gas, and the buggy crept forward. "You wanted me to train to train you, to teach you how to beat Ratel at her own game, or rather, bend the rules enough to do so. Were you serious about that?"

Velvet remained silent, the burn of her rage against Ratel warming her body. When she was certain that she could make a rational thought, and relatively calm, she turned back to Dew. "I was certain. When we meet Ratel again, if we can't take her on together, I want to make sure that I have a fair chance of beating her. The last two times that we met, I was almost always on defense. When I did manage to land a hit, there was almost no damage that could be inflicted on her. There was something about her. No matter what I could do, and what I did, I couldn't beat her."

Dew grunted thoughtfully. "I know how that feels. Like someone out there is better than you in every way, that they can kill you without even trying."

"That's a bit extreme of an example." Velvet said, pretending that that wasn't exactly how Honey played herself in her mind.

"It's accurate, though. It only happened to me once, and it wasn't even with someone that I knew. It was on the grounds of Beacon, that night. Oh, I'm sorry. We don't have to talk about this if you're not comfortable with it."

"No, no." Velvet insisted, trying her best ot not come off as rude. "You can go on if you want."

"Well, alright." Dew began, looking back to Ceril. "Of course he's asleep." She mumbled. "That night, me and the girls were doing our jobs, fighting to make sure that things were as safe as possible until we could get everyone who wasn't dead out. We got seperated at one point, myself from the other three. We all were going off to protect four different groups of survivors in four different sections of the school. We couldn't make it to all four places at once, so we agreed to meet once we were done with our jobs in the courtyard. So, everything went off without a hitch, and I had escorted the people to the airships. I was making my way back, and I decided to cut through the city to get back there. That was when I came across some green-haired girl. I recognized her from the tournament as someone from Mistral. I tried to get her to come with me, and she shot at me. No, correction. She _shot_ me. I was bleeding out for a minute, before I did the whole Aura thing, but she was a damn illusionist. A very good illusionist."

"Like a magician?" Velvet asked, confused.

"What? No! Like, she did _actual_ illusions. She made images appear that weren't really there. Illusions."

"Oh." Velvet said, slightly embarrassed at the miscommunication.

"Anyway. I couldn't get the best of her. She was way too fast, and I was quite certain that I was about to die. Then, my girls came through. They saved my sorry butt, and that girl turned tail and ran. The battle was over, but I still felt like crap. That was the first time that I ever felt so...helpless in a fight. I hated that feeling, and I made it my mission to train, to make sure that there was no way that anyone could ever put me in a position like that again. So, yeah. I get what you mean. And yeah, I want to help you to beat this Ratel bitch." The bite in the end of Dew's sentence sent a chill down Velvet's spine, but she did her best to not show it.

"Thank you, Dew."

"I'll be honest. I wouldn't be doing it totally for you." She said, surprising Velvet.

"Is that right?" Was all that Velvet could manage to say in reply.

"It is. If we're being totally honest, I know that we're in this together, but I want to kill her."

"What are you talking about, Dew?" Velvet asked, purposefully avoiding the subject and hoping that it would change.

"I want to kill her myself. Ratel, in my mind, deserves to die. I mean, don't you think so, too? Velvet?"

 _Oh, no. I didn't think that we'd have to have this talk._

"At one time, I think that I might have. With everything that's been going on, I may have just been in the same shoes that you're in now. But, I learned the hard way, a long time ago, that your emotions are some of the most potent weapons in your arsenal. I learned that it's the kind of weapon that can't only hurt your enemies, but yourself as well. Emotions can only take you so far in a battle before they begin to consume you, to turn you into something corrupted. After," She bit her tongue to prevent mentioning Hansel's name. Velvet took a deep breath, then continued. "After, I learned that hate is like a gun. It can only do more harm than good, which is something that doesn't sit right with me."

Dew stayed silent, driving along the path, continuing to ascend the mountain to the peak. "That makes a lot of sense." She grunted. "I suppose that you aren't the only one who has some things to learn about the way the world goes around."

Velvet wasn't sure of how to take Dew's words, so she took her place in the realm of silence. Dew continued. "I get the feeling that we're going to get everything that we want to know once this thing is all over. Wait, that's not right."

"How so?" Velver said, unsure of the direction that Dew was taking the conversation, and not sure that she wanted to.

"We're not going to get what we want to know. We're going to get what we need to get, learn what we need to know, whether we want to or not."

"Or we'll die."

"That, too, is a learning process. One of the last lessons that anyone comes to know in our line of work. You know what I mean?"

Velvet wondered if she did indeed know. After pondering, wondering if they were of the same mind when it came to such a subject as death and combat. "Yes, I think that I do. It's the ultimate answer to the question of who was better between who was better, superior to the other."

It was a question that Velvet was afraid to have answered, and hoped in the deepest parts of her soul that she didn't have to.

"Alright." She said, in a slight change of tone, pulling off to a clearing that they had begun to pass through. "What do you think? This look like a cool place to hang out at for the night?"

Velvet looked at the area around them from a strategic standpoint. Velvet saw where every heightened bluff was, where there were large boulders in close spacing, and what would be the optimal place to strike a watch-point. She ran different scenarios in her mind, ones regarding Grimm attacks and ambushes. She still tried, in vain, to shake away the feeling that they were being watched. "Yeah. It looks fine."

 _You're only being paranoid, Velvet. There's probably nothing out there._

Despite her reassuring thoughts, Velvet never failed to remind herself of one thing that proved to be a constant in her life.

 _If something could go wrong, it seldom failed to._

Velvet volunteered to take the first watch, so that Dew and Ceril would be able to sleep for a small amount. She knew that, although she was still sore, she was not unable to do combat, should the need arise. As the first hour passed with no noteable occurrances, Velvet wondered if she was, indeed, being paranoid.

Then, to validate her worst fears and shut her false hope away, the sun set, and she swore to herself that she heard rustling in the dark. This was accompanied, as she was becoming settled on a tall, flat rock that rested atop a second, vertical arrangement of boulders, by the appearance of two red eyes in the distance, glaring through the dark.

She rose up, knowing that the other two would be alright, unless they had particularly bad nightmares. With the sole intention of protecting her friends, Velvet, amidst her better judgement telling her otherwise, disembarked her watching post. She took one last look at her slumbering companions, upset that she was leaving their momentary well-being to chance. Talking herself into allowing them to be alone for the duration of the battle to come, she walked off, alone, into the night.

 _May the gods both forgive me and give me strength._


	12. The Velveteen Faunus Volume 2 Chapter 12

"There you are." Velvet mumbled under her breath, as she caught sight of the Grimm that she'd read about in books during her time during the long, often dull lectures of Professor Port at Beacon. When they had gone over the exotic wildlife of Sanus, Velvet was oddly intrigued by just peculiar they were when she compared them to the ones that she was more than familiar with in Vale.

It was a relatively small Grimm, remindeing Velvet of the dimensions of the Creep creature that was native to the borders of Vale. It had a long snout, large teeth protruding from it. Its dorsal area was ribbed, a thin line of spines going down the center of its back from the base of its neck to the long tail that flicked small amounts of sand up in the air as it hunted, likely searching for the very prey that had sought it out first. As she spoke, the creature, whom she recalled as being dubbed as a Okinaba snapped its head in Velvet's direction, forcing her to dive behind a nearby boulder. While she knew this would not keep the beast away for long, it's reliance on its visual would keep it curious just long enough for her to figure out how to take it down.

She knew that, just like its Vale counterpart, there was a soft underside, as well as an inpenetrable plate of armor along its back and face. Due to its aligity and small size, Velvet knew that she would first need to find a way to place it on its back, where she could attack quickly and efficiently upon its stomach.

As the clicking growls of the Okinaba continued to grow closer, Velvet closed her eyes, making a mental image of what it was that she had to do. When it was clear, Velvet leapt out from behind the safety of the rock, lunging for the small beast. Faster than she had anticipated, the Glader slipped out from behind her.

Velvet pressed her arms behind her, strectching. Knowing her track record, Velvet was sure that the beast would only come back to haunt her later if she did not finish there and then. She lowered herself in a defensive stance once more as the beast dove down from above, two thin, limp appendages dangling from underneath, slinking out from its underside, just over where a normal beast's neck would be. Velvet pondered what they could be, but did not have long before, when the creature got close enough, it shot its two new appendages towards her. She dove out of the way as they slammed into the ground, sending a cloud of red dust into the air.

 _Ok. Something to avoid. That's good to know._

She rose to her feet once more, analyzing how much of a chance she stood against this new creature. Despite her reassurances to herself that she would fare well enough, a small voice in her head told her that she was going to die. Velvet pushed these thoughts away, however, knowing the stakes at hand.

 _If you're going to die, then you're going to make sure that this...thing goes down with you._

"Wow, Velvet. Pretty jerk move of not inviting us to the party, especially when this is our damn turf." She turned to see both Ceril and Dew dive behind boulders, assessing the creature in the air.

"Never seen one of those before. I was always sure that I'd die when I did."

"I don't think we're that lucky, C." Dew said in a joking tone. "Now if you're done, cracking wise, see if you can't light that ugly up."

"Consider him blazed." He popped out of his perch, unslinging his machine-gun. He fired several bursts before swearing under his breath. "Ok, never mind about that."

"Of course not." Dew breathed, swinging her spear in a wide arc to project a large gust of wind towards the Grimm. The creature was thrown off-balance by the change under its wings, sending it flying to the ground. As the three advanced to finish the beast off, the creature rose once more, flapping its wings furiously. As Velvet and the others struggled to keep the sand and dirt out of their eyes, the creature wildly swung its tentacles about, slamming with brute force into the trio. Velvet was sent backwards, slamming into a rock. Her Aura flickered, and she could feel that she did not have much left.

She quickly got to her feet, looking to see how the rest of the group had fared. Ceril was knocked unconcious, and Dew was on her feet as well, clutching at her right shoulder. It was a clear indicator to Velvet that she was not well, but she asked anyway, knowing full-well what the answer was going to be.

"I'm fine. What we need to worry about it is how to take that thing down."

"Why not use your time-distortion?" Velvet asked impulsivley, elciting another annoyed sigh from Dew.

"Because, like any kind of Semblance, using it too much will exert too much on my body. The only way I'm doing it now is if we're all about to die, or if I'm the last one left."

"Noted." Velvet said simply, looking on as the creature swung its tentacles around while a short distance from them in midair. Velvet and Dew took evasive action, diving to the ground. She eyed her companion once more, who gave a glance that beckoned the question, 'Now what?'

Dew slashed at the air in front of her two more times, sending two successive wind gusts towards the Grimm. Adapting to their methods, however, the creature barrel-rolled in the air to stay on course. One of the tentacles underneath the beast lashed out once more, looking primed to hit Dew square in the chest. Velvet, seeing what was about to happen, screamed out Dew's name, summoning her Semblance. She summoned a Hard-Light Copy of a Hatchet, using her thumb to eyeball the trajectory. In a matter of milliseconds, she threw the copy at the attacking appendage. To her own surprise, the ax hit its mark from a distance of 3 meters, slicing clean through the black flesh of the Grimm. It cried out, retracting what was left of its arm-like body part. It slithered back into its body, as did the other tentacle.

Without missing a beat, Velvet expelled the hatchet and called upon the Hard-Light copy of Icarina's bow and arrow once more. She aimed at one of the bulbous eyes of the Grimm, drawing three arrows from the Hard-Light quiver. She took aim, pulled her arm back, and fired the three arrows before the creature had an opportunity to turn away from the hunted who had become the hunters. She released, watching as the three arrows sailed through the air. They all connected over the eye, sending out another ear-splitting screech from the Grimm in response. Velvet had learned to block out such a noise, not so much as wincing at the sensation. Dew winced a small amount, but did not take her eyes off of their enemy. She nodded to Velvet in appreciation, priming her spear and throwing it with so much force that it was able to connect against the other eye of the Grimm. Losing its ability to see, it began to fall low to the ground, where Velvet dashed forward. She concentrated a large amount of Aura in her fists, as Kandase had taught her, with Ozpin, Dorian, and Qrow building later. She felt the warm sensation of the Aura as it flowed to her hands, which she closed. She summoned the wings of the adversary that she had wounded on the battlefield many years ago, and flew up to meet the Grimm head-on. Velvet closed her eyes and soared towards the creature. Aside from the sound of the wind passing by her body, she made not a sound, so as to not be tracked by the creature.

It wildly flailed its remaining tentacle, trying depserately to hit anything. She avoided touching them, not knowing if they were covered with poison or another form of toxin. She dispelled her wings when she was close enough to the face of the Grimm, rearing her arms back and clasping her hands together as she was carried only by velocity. When the time was right, she slammed her fists into the forehead area of the creature's bulbous head. The force sent the creature down into the ground, hard. Dew ran forward as soon as the beast was down, tearing her recovered spear through the translucent wings of the beast to prevent it from rising again.

Velvet performed a front-flip in the air as she began to fall. She found an area that was void of any boulders too large. Velvet manuevered her body there, rolling onto her back once the opportunity presented itself. She laid dormant for a second, barely realizing that she was out of breath. She looked up at the calm night sky as she heard Dew cursing, condemning the beast for 'thinking that it had the goods to kill them'. Velvet couldn't help but laugh slightly, making her burning sides hurt as a direct result.

She moved onto her hands and knees, turning to face her compatriots. The Grimm was dissolving, and Dew had begun her resuscitation of Ceril in the form of tapping him in the ribs, asking, "Hey, are you dead?"

Velvet was beginning to walk over to rejoin them, when she felt a large hand clasp her shoulder. Defensively, she leapt away, turning to face the person behind her. Instead of an enemy, however, Velvet's eyes were met with a familiar face. Velvet's face brightened up, the feelings of fatigue leaving her almost immediately

Her hair had been dyed to a deep auburn color. It was tied up into a ponytail, the base of which being near the back end of her scalp. The hair tie was black and puffy. She had obtained a light tan since the last time Velvet had seen her, her pale skin now a half-shade darker than before.

Around around her throat lay a thin leather necklace that slunk down to the base of her neck, just underneath them a pair of reflective-lens sunglasses dangling from the neckline of her shirt. Just under this pair of sunglasses was an arrow attached to the leather band that Velvet could read, even in the darkness. It had one word inscribed on its smooth, grey surface: Redemption.

She had on a black, leather jacket to protect herself from the cold elements that had come over the land. Underneath, she donned a form-fitting gray undershirt that had 2 symmetrical tears over each of her ribs. Over this was a pair of white suspenders that were equipped with small, black pouches that Velvet could only assume were to hold her primary weapon of choice. They wrapped around her shoulder-blades and over to her back.

They were attached to a pair of burgundy shorts that had a line of brass buttons running down the center. Without any leggings present, Velvet was able to see an array of faded scars along the exposed section of her upper thighs, which would give way to a pair of thigh-high, black-and-white skater sneakers.

Velvet eyed the hands that she placed on her hips, cocking them in the fashion that Velvet herself found doing herself at times. In the same, flashy fashion as the rest of her attire, the upper-part of her hands and as well as her forearms were covered with brass guards, held in place by leather straps that wrapped around her wrists underneath.

Over each finger, save for her thumbs, there were engraved rings that were attached to her fingers. What the swirly engravings meant, Velvet hadn't the slightest idea. It appeared, though, that the brass guard's doubled as brass knuckles as well.

As if she'd have it any other way. Velvet thought with a smirk.

From behind her, Dew came running up, brandishing her spear towards Velvet's old friend. "Hey. Who are you?" She questioned bluntly.

"Wow. I'm shocked, Velvet. You haven't even gotten around to telling your little friends about me? Or teaching your little friend here some manners?"

"Who the he-"

"I suggest you shush yourself before I do it for you."

"Excuse me?" Dew said, scowling, leaning forward as if to attack.

Velvet stepped between them, facing Dew first. "Dew. I suppose some introductions are in order."

"You got that right." Velvet heard with a chuckle behind her.

"This is one of my closest friends. This is Kandase Bellerini."

Kandase bowed. "Grade-A butt-kicker, at your service. Velvet, I need to speak with you."

Velvet looked back, exchanged a look with Dew once more. "Make sure that Ceril is alright." She said, before Kandase pulled her away.

She pulled Velvet to a secluded area about a meter away, pulling her behind a boulder. Kandase turned on her heels, kicking up a small amount of dust under her feet, and laid her back against the nearest boulder. She pointed an accusatory finger to Velvet, pulling her head back to look up at the stars. "You, Velvet Scarlatina, are an extremely hard woman to find. I mean, sure, when I pestered Qrow enough before he left himself a couple months back, he let it slip that he'd sent you on your first solo mission to Vacuo. After I tried beaning him for putting you on such a dangerous mission alone, I told him that I was going after you, and there was nothing that he could say to stop me. 'Well, if that's the case,' (Kandase made her voice low and hoarse in her best impression of Qrow Branwen) 'Then you can make yourself more useful there. With someone of your skill set, you're not much use when it comes to rebuilding the schools.' So," Kandase said, clutching onto the boulder and kicking her legs up into the air. "I decided to come along for the ride." She rolled off of the boulder, hopping onto her feet to stand before Velvet again.

"I would be lying if I told you that I wasn't glad to see you."

"Oh, I know." She observed with a snorting laugh. "The big question that I've been meaning to ask you ever since I decided to tail you here on my second journey to this..." She curled her lip, looking around at the landscape. "lovely kingdom is: what have you found out during your time running about Sanus? From what I've heard from my old friends in low places, you've caused more trouble than the God of Darkness Himself. You've got people thinking that you're some sort of Maiden, that you're invulnerable, and I've also heard that you've caught the eye of some of the most hardcore street gangs in this place, and not in the fun way."

Velvet sighed at the mentioning of the misconception of her being a Maiden. "That's all true, I suppose. As much as I despise that bit about me being a Maiden. But I've uncovered something during my time here."

"Aside from a group of bickering...I'm gonna guess lovers?" Kandase asked in an inquisitive tone, pointing a curled finger to Ceril and Dew, whom Velvet had barely noticed were arguing behind them about the ease of which Ceril was incapacitated during the battle. Velvet sighed, putting a hand to her face once more, but otherwise avoiding the subject.

"No. They're just some...hired help of mine?" Velvet couldn't help but feel a bit of attachment to the two of them, but she knew that they were both still with her for other reasons. Kandase hummed inflectively, nodding slowly.

"I see. Well, aside from such...colorful characters, what did you uncover? What's going down here in Vacuo?"

Velvet looked to the ground, shrugging as she told Kandase the hard truth. "I'm not sure that I know, exactly."

"Hmm. Interesting. Explain?" She moved her hand in a circular motion, urging Velvet on.

"Well, I met with the person that all of my leads led me to, a gang-leader named Honey Ratel. She claimed that she'd found an alternative solution to end our fight with the said something about combining the two beings. That the only way that we could all live in harmony is if we are one and the same. Said she wanted to bring about a new world, using the students at Shade as test subjects so the world couldn't look away." Velvet said, looking up to face Kandase's mortified expression. She shook her head and crossed her arms.

"By the gods. She's not talking about-" Kandase stopped herself, unable to bring herself to finish the statement. Velvet nodded, knowing what it was that she had realized.

"Assimilation. She thinks that the way to peace is making Grimm and human one and the same."

Kandase uttered a swear into her palm as she brought it to her mouth. After a moment of stunned sillence, she looked to Velvet once more. "Do they know?"

"I don't think so. All that the girl-Dew is her name- knows is that Ratel is targeting the kids at Shade. Neither of them know the particulars of what's going on."

Kandase nodded. "Alright. That's good. For the time being, we should keep it that way."

Velvet, initially, nodded in agreement, not fully comprehending what it was that Kandase had just said. When she did, she turned to look at the pair behind them who had ceased bickering and looked back at them. "Would you mind explaining that?"

"Which part? The part where I told you to lie to your friends so they don't compromise this operation? Or the part where I put myself on your team?"

Velvet turned back to Kandase once more. "I think the first one would be suitable for now."

She walked closer to Velvet, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Velvet. Do you remember what Ozpin taught you? About anger and hate? Well, it's like a wild animal that you take into battle. Sure, you look all cool, and it'll help take out whatever enemies stand in your way, but, eventually, it turns on its handler. This would be like giving them a Creep on a leash. It would motivate them to get the job done, but at the cost of their own lives.

Isn't that what I've already doomed them to by involving them? Velvet thought, quickly repressing those thoughts. "I'll admit that such a thought crossed my mind as well. I don't want to involve them any more than I have to."

"I know you don't. You're one of the last truly noble people on this world. It's apparent that you've managed to round such capable team members up and lead them into battle."

"Wait, how do you-"

"I may or may not have found you yesterday and have been trailing you as much as I can. I've seen everything aside from you and that Dew chick going up to the mansion on the hill. I must say, you were pretty inspiring, running into burning buildings, fighting a bunch of goons. But, aside from all of that, they're not a liability, so long as they're on a need-to-know basis. I know that kind of thing kills you, Velvet, but that's the only way that they can truly be protected."

Velvet shook her head. "The lying. Where does it end, Kandase?"

"I can't say, for sure, Velvet. It hasn't ended for me, and I've been doing this for a lot longer. Oddly enough, the lies are the safeguard that truly protects the weak-minded from the truth that they pretend to want, but are in no way ready to face."

Velvet sighed, suddenly feeling the urge to switch the subject. "So, you're going to tag along with us, then?"

Kandase took the hint, and chuckled. She bared her teeth in a pearly smile, placing her hands on her hips. "Well, have you given any thought to what your team name is?"

Velvet had given it no previous thought, but gave off the first thing that came to mind, the only thing she could really say."We...I hadn't given it much thought." She said with a bit of chagrin.

Kandase chuckled to herself. "Well, we don't have to have a name. I can't quite think of anything that starts with a 'V' that's a color and includes all of our names, anyhow. Doesn't matter. We've got to leave such childish things behind." At that moment, Kandase opened one of her pouches along her suspenders and withdrew a bright-red sucker. She stuck it in her mouth, then met the sight of Velvet stifling her laughter. "Hey, we don't have leave all of our childish tendencies behind. I'd be out of a job, then."

Velvet shook her head, chuckling. "Alright. What do you suppose we do, now?"

Kandase cackled, wrapping her arm around Velvet's shoulders. "Hey, now. This is your operation. That's your call to make. But, I may be able to give you a nudge in the right direction. While I was...let's say reminiscing with some of my old associates here on Sanus, I came across an unusual story that even has the people here spooked. They're under the impression that some boogeyman is coming in the night and stealing away their children. The police don't know what to do about it, and the citizens are scared out of their wits. With that little bit of info that you gave me, I would wager that our dillemmas are crossed at some point in the road."

"I would wager that you're right. I think that we have the opportunity to help even more people than before. How many kids do you know of that have been taken?"

"Well, there are about 14, apparently. Most of them are younger kids who just got into combat school, with a small handful of them being people your age."

Velvet nodded, fully embracing the gravity of the situation that had laid itself at their feet. "I don't suppose that anyone gave you an address?" She said, trying to lighten the tone with a joke. Kandase politely laughed, then answered in the negative.

"Of course not, Velvet. If it were that easy, everyone would be a Huntsman, and we wouldn't find work." She stretched her hands behind her head and rocked on her heels. "We get the fun job of finding these people and hunting them down."

"Well, we need to stop and rest. The other people in my party are exhausted, and they can't go on for much longer if they don't rest, I'm sure. The boy with the glasses lost his home today."

"I saw." Kandase interjected. "I supoose that's reasonable. The only thing a tired Huntsman can bring about is an early retirement. So, what do you think, we go at it in the morning?"

"I suppose that's the best way to do it. Do you suppose that they know anything?" Velvet asked, subtly pointing to the two behind her.

"There's only one way to find out. But, let's wait until morning. Even the bad guys get their beauty sleep."

Velvet nodded, and turned to walk back to Ceril and Dew. She reflected on what Kandase said as they walked ever so slowly.

How much time is too much time? I hope that we don't have to find out.

"Velvet. It's going to be alright." Kandase assured, seeing the worry written over her friend's face.

"For all of our sakes, I hope that you're right."


	13. The Velveteen Faunus Volume 2 Chapter 13

Chapter 13

"I'm sorry, but who do you think you are, thinking you can ask us whatever you want and expecting us to just lie down and accept you as some sort of authority figure?"

"Ok, easy, short stuff. I'm not trying to come off as hostile here, and I'd really appreciate the same curteousy."

"Frankly, I don't give a damn about what you want. I want to know why you're coming in here, not even being in here for a day, and asking questions about people that you've never met."

Kandase put up her hands with her palms out, in a symbol of defense to Dew. Dew appeared to be unfazed, and huffed while crossing her arms. "Fair enough." Kandase receded, obviously declaring that her foreward approach would yield no results. "It was over the line to ask such a sensitive question."

"You're damn right, it was! Now, would you mind explaining to me why you were asking?"

Kandase warily eyed Velvet, as if trying to find the appropriate answer to the posed question. "Well, if you insist on knowing, I suppose that I'm inclined to tell you." She said, stalling.

"Yeah, bitch. That's kind of the idea."

Kandase scowled. "I'd appreciate you not calling me a bitch, kid."

"And I'd appreciate you not calling me a kid, bitch. But that's just not how the world wants it right now, so neither do I. Now answer me. Why do you want to know about what's going on with my friends, about where they are?"

Kandase took a deep breath. "It's because, after connecting the dots that Velvet and I brought, we think that your old Ratel friend is going to force some of the students of Shade into her gang, force them to bring their home away from home to the ground."

Dew fell silent, a shocked expression coming over her. Velvet herself was shocked at just how easily lying came to Kandase.

It makes sense. She uses her smooth tongue to survive. It's how she's done it for years, I'd wager.

"What are you talking about?"

"It's exactly as I'm saying, ki-Dew. They're very bad people who are doing very bad things, and they don't care what they have to do to get it done. If I were a betting girl, which I am, I'd say that they're probably swiping them up and doing things that only the gods can imagine. Now, we haven't the slightest idea where they could be, but I have picked up some info that there's been a high concentration of abductions north of here. I don't have to tell you two that though? I'm sure that you know all about it. Which is why I wanted to see if there was anything that you could give us, should the gambit in my head fail, of where else we may be able to look, or maybe if you (Kandase pointed her finger at Ceril, catching him off-guard) may have heard something in that bar of yours that would be able to help us out? I mean, I know you follow the bartender's code and all of that jazz, but there's a good chance we could save some lives if we nip this down. So, tell me, Ceril, right? Is there anything?"

Velvet saw as Ceril began to stutter, his cheeks becoming very flushed. She wasn't the only one to notice however, as Dew looked away for a brief moment, as she not-so-lightly nudged him out of his trance. "Easy, there, loverboy. She's looking for information, not trying to con a drink out of you."

Ceril took a deep breath, running his hand along his stubbled head of dark blue hair. "Well, I'm sorry to disappoint, sweet-ma'am, but I haven't heard anything like that lately. I think if I were to have heard someone talk about kidnapping my friends, or kids in general, I may just have overlooked the whole 'bartender's code' thing. I'm sorry."

Kandase walked over and placed a hand on Ceril's shoulder, eliciting from him a shallow gasp. Like everyone else in the group, Ceril craned his head up to meet her gaze. "Don't beat yourself up about it. If these criminals are like the scumbags I've met in the past, then they probably won't get drunk enough to let any info like that slip."

"Wait!" Ceril shouted, breaking away from Kandase, and walking away from the others. All eyes were on him as he pointed up to the sky. "There was something that I heard. They didn't explicitly say that there were kids being kidnapped. But they mentioned that some group was making a move, gunning to be running Vacuo's kingdom and putting their own lackeys in place of the councilmen on the High Council now. Do you think there might be something that ties those two stories together?"

Velvet, a sudden spike of anxiety rushing through her, turned her eyes over to Kandase. Kandase turned as well. "Well, team leader. What do you think? Should we follow up on that lead?"

Velvet, feeling the weight of her executive power, crooked her finger and looked to the ground beneath her. She knew that not investigating these claims could prove to be disastrous, especially if the people in question were tied in any way to Salem's faction. On the other hand, she reasoned that spreading themselves too thin would prove to be equally disastrous. After a small deliberation, Velvet rose her head once more, meeting the eyes of the team-her team. "What did you hear about these people, Ceril?" She asked, not putting her eyes over him.

"Oh. Um," He looked around, struggling to recall what it was that he'd heard during his time within the bar. "They call themselves 'The Parthenon'. There's a dozen of them, in all, I think. Or...was it half a dozen? I-I don't recall."

"That's alright, Ceril. What else did you hear?"

"Well, um, that's kind of all. Sorry for the let-down." Ceril said, rubbing the back of his neck as he bowed his head.

Dew scoffed, brushing a loose strand of hair out of her face. "That's it? Really? Honestly, Ceril, if you can't-"

"Hey!" Kandase shouted, crossing the small distance to face Dew. "A lead is a lead. Sure, the information that he gave us is thin, but it's a whole lot more than you've provided, now isn't it?"

Dew's face flushed with anger, but she stayed silent. Velvet knew that Dew knew that Kandase was right. Kandase, finished with her chastising of Dew, turned to Velvet once more, repeating the question that she had posed earlier. "What do you think, Velvet? It's your op, and we're behind you the whole way."

"Who says that you're one of us?" Dew blurted out. Kandase turned on her heels once more. She put up her index finger, attracting Dew's undivided attention.

All Kandase said was, "One more." before turning again to Velvet. Velvet had used the small time that was given by the altercation between Dew and Kandase to think of a proper answer.

"Well, they don't appear to pose any immediate danger, not like Ratel and her gang do. I say that we go after them first, and see if we can't handle this Parthenon group once the dust settles, or, better yet, take them both out at once if they're related."

A strange voice from a distance called out to them, openly objectng Velvet's decision. "I don't think that's such a good idea."

Everyone turned to face a thin figure in a black cloak, only her bare feet protruding from the bottom. Her face, save for her pale mouth, was covered either by the silky, black material of the cloak or from the shadows that bounced off in open defiance of the rising sun. She twiddled her toes on the high-rising, flat, tan rock 5 meters away. A small breeze that Velvet could not feel blew the strange girl's cloak ever so slightly. "Who are you?" Velvet asked with a small bite in her voice. She watched as the covered figure's mouth crept into a sinister smile.

"I am The Parthenon. To you, I require no other introduction. My name is known only to the other components of myself and the one true Goddess."

At the mention of a 'Goddess', both Velvet and Kandase stiffened, transitioning into their battle stances. Only one name was associated with such a word in her mind, save for the Maidens, who were the only true goddesses to her. The name passively slipped through her lips, as her eyes narrowed on the stanger she had listed as hostile. "Salem."

The girl gave indication that she heard the name pass Velvet's lips. Her smile receded, replaced by a pursing of the lips. A small silence passed before the stranger broke the silence. "Who's Salem?" She asked quizzically.

Confused, both Velvet and Kandase rose from their battle positions, Velvet unsure of what was going on in front of them. They glanced at each other before putting their eyes back on the cloaked figure. "What?" Kandase shouted at the figure in front of them.

"I said, 'who's Salem?'. I've never heard that name before."

Do...you know who we are?" Velvet asked, puzzled. It slowly dawned on her that she may have misassessed the situation and the girl in front of them.

"No. Not totally. I only know you, Velvet Scarlatina. You are the heir to the Goddesses throne. You are the fifth Maiden." She replied in her small, timid voice that Velvet struggled to hear across the flat area between them.

Velvet felt the all-too-familiar feeling of annoyance surge through her body once more. She had quickly grown weary of being referred to as a Maiden, albeit being called the fifth was a new experience for her. "I'm sorry. You're mistaken."

Another small pause. "No, I'm not. She has told me herself. It has been foretold that, should you join forces with a warrior of silver eyes, you bring an end to her reign and take over. This is very troublesome for us all. She has assembled The Parthenon, and has given us all a place in a world that is cold and unfeeling. I have sought you out, with a warning, Velvet Scarlatina. If you do choose to seek out my mother, then I will have no other choice than to ensure that the prophecy goes unfulfilled."

"What does that mean?" Dew asked, pushing past Velvet to stand at the front of them.

The smile returned, one of omniscience and superiority. "That is only for the Maiden to know."

Impulsivley, Dew drew her spear and hurled it like a javelin towards the cloaked figure. When the spear was set to connect, the girl's cloak swirled into a small ball, fluidly, and disappeared. A shock sent through Velvet, unsure of how to process what had just happened.

"Well," Kandase observed. "She seemed nice. Unlike a certain bonehead among us."

"Hey, she was going to-" Dew began to retort.

'Ok. First off, I didn't say that I was talking about you, now did I? And second, let's say, hypothetically, I was talking about you, and I was referring to that stupid move to throw your damn spear thingy at the girl who, a) we didn't know anything about, and b) didn't even pose an immediate threat, and there is no way that you can prove that she did."

"She said-"

Kandase, in the second most heated fervor that she had seen from her in all the time that she had met her, squared herself against Dew, cutting her off once more. "NO! You don't know what would have happened, no matter how much you try to convince yourself of otherwise. 'If you do choose to seek out my mother, then I will have no other choice than to ensure that the prophecy goes unfulfilled.' does not necessarily mean that she was going to put to hit out on Velvet, or that he had any type of malicious intent at all. You jumped to that conclusion, thinking that you had all of the facts, and now we're even worse off than we were before. Something could be going down under our noses, we could have obtained a slip of the tongue from her, and we could be one step closer to taking down Ratel. But, no! You took crap into your own hands, trying to be miss hero. Well, let me give you a little lesson, Miss Hero of Vacuo. The wars of the world, the battle against the Grimm will not be won at the tip of a sword. The only one who is left standing is the one who thought that far ahead, not with foolhardy acts of courage. That's a surefire way to get dead. I would think that someone like you, who's lived in a place like this for her whole life, would get something as a simple a concept as that." Kandase, her face flush from the lack of oxygen, took a deep breath and turned to Velvet. "I'm sorry about that." She apologized to Velvet, avoiding the gaze of Dew.

She walked off, with Velvet in tow, stopped only by the sound of Dew's voice. "What is wrong with her?"

Fighting the impulse to mirror the violent outburst of Kandase, Velvet kept her composure and turned to Dew, calmly explaining. "Me and her are a lot alike. She's just...complicated." She said, turning on her heels once more and following her friend.

She found Kandase, who was taking deep breaths, staring out at the rising sun with a stoic look about her. Before Velvet had the chance to offer any words of comfort, Kandase put her hand up, crossing her arms shortly after. "I'm sorry about that. Your friend just got on my nerves a little, is all. It won't happen in the future."

Catching the feeling that she wanted to change the subject, Velvet was all too happy to oblige. "It's alright. I trust you. Now, I feel like these Parthenon figures should be put on a higher priority, but we should focus on taking down Ratel, as earlier discussed."

Kandase, not looking to Velvet, nodded slowly. "That works for me. So, your team is well-rested, after you and them took rest last night."

"Are you alright, though?" Velvet blurted out. Kandase looked to the ground, slowly nodding again. A small, familiar smile crept over her face, and she turned to Velvet once more. "Aren't I always?" was her reply.

Velvet laughed, then came across the realization within her mind that they had a shortage of space in Charlotte for all four of them. When she divulged these concerns to Kandase, she only laughed. "I know I'm a big girl and all, but I caught sight of that rig on the way over here. I think I can manage to fit in the back, if they kid with the glasses doesn't mind."

She thought about how Ceril may react to someone with Kandase's looks being next to him for a prolonged amount of time. When she told her friend about Ceril's tendencies, Kandase stayed still for a single second before doubling over in laughter. She wiped a tear from her eye a full half-minute later. "Don't worry. I've met his kind before. I can keep him-(she couldn't keep from bursting out in laughter again) keep him in line.' She waved away Velvet's concern.

"Well, what are we waiting for, then?" Velvet said, a surge of confidence passing through her with the idea of the adventures and the good that they were to bring to the Kingdom of Vacuo. There was no particular reason that the feeling came over her, and she needed none.

"Let's head back?" Kandase said, walking past Velvet towards Dew and Ceril. The smile not leaving her lips, Velvet sighed, and walked back to her friends as well. "Alright," Velvet said, being louder than usual. "So," She paused, unsure of how to continue. "Here's how I think we should do this." Another small pause. "We find what's going on with all of these disappearances, and find out if they're connected to whatever Ratel has planned. If it is, then we stop it, and shut down the rest of her operations. If not, then we solve why they're disappearing anyway, and move on to Ratel. How does that sound to everyone?"

At first, nothing. Kandase stayed silent, gauging the reactions of the other two. Dew was the first to speak, but it wasn't towards Velvet. "C, didn't you-"

"I don't want to talk about it, Dew." His face suddenly became sullen, attracting the attention of Velvet and Kandase alike.

"Talk about what, Ceril?" Velvet said without thinking, regretting the outburst.

"I said I don't want to talk about it!" He shouted, his eyes becoming misty. Kandase walked over and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Listen, Ceril. I know that you're going through something here. We all have, or are. But, you gotta understand. There's a lot more at stake here than just us. If we walk into this without being on the same page as each other, then we're going to fail. If we fail, then a lot of good people could die. I don't know about you, but people like me and Velvet, we've been there before. There have been times when we failed to act, and people died. Ceril, if there's anything that you can do to prevent something like that from happening, please don't hesitate to bring it up."

Ceril refused to meet Kandase's gaze, keeping his eyes over her feet. "You don't think I know that?" He said, sobbing. Ceril's head shot up to face Kandase. "You don't think I know what's at risk?" He shouted, shuddering as he fought a losing battle to hold back the tears that were now staining the ground under him. "You don't think I want to do whatever it takes to bring those jerks to justice? They have my sister, for gods' sake!"

"Oh, no." Dew muttered under her breath, briefly attracting Velvet's attention, before she turned back to Kandase and Ceril.

"Ceril, what do you mean?" Kandase whispered.

"They stole her away from home, right under my nose. I was helpless to stop them, and I couldn't protect her. That's why I started hunting them. I vowed that I'd find them, and I'd make them pay for whatever it was that they'd done to her. That's why-why I want to find them."

Kandase stole a glance to Velvet, who could only shrug, uncertain of what she could say to assuage his sorrow. With a train of thought evident on her face, she nodded and turned back to Ceril. "Listen to me. You have my word. We're going to get your sister back, and we're going to beat these people so hard into the ground, they're going to wish they never messed with anyone's family. You have my word. Got it?" She wiped away a tear on Ceril's cheek, cracking a small smile.

"Ok." Was all that Ceril could manage to say. Kandase turned to Velvet, ushering her to continue. Velvet, still reeling from what she had just seen and heard, struggled to continue.

"As I said before, we're going to find these missing people, and we're going to save them. Kandase has a good idea of where to look. Any questions?"

Sniffling, Ceril answered. "Yeah." He hefted the machine gun that was slung across his back, sliding it into his hands. "What are we waiting for?"


	14. The Velveteen Faunus Volume 2 Chapter 14

CHAPTER 14

Velvet and her team did not take long to find the supposed hideout of some of Ratel's group in the adjoining Mosaic Canyon. There, several dozen kilometers from their campsite the night before, was a canopy that was camouflaged against any aerial reconnaissance From what they could see, the area was not very fortified, they only saw a pair of guards, older, middle-aged man and a woman, dressed in identical brown fatigues, tinted sunglasses, as well as, in one of their cases, a tan scarf wrapped around her mouth. When one of them raised a pair of binoculars to scan the area around them, the four ducked their heads under the boulder that they were hiding behind, overlooking the rim of the canyon. When they all huddled around together, Velvet cleared her throat, accidentally garnering all attention on her. When she noticed this, rather than make herself look foolish, she muttered a small 'alright' and offered her opinion on the matter. "I think that this shouldn't be too difficult of a matter to follow, so not all of us need to go down there. If everyone is alright with it, I'd like to volunteer myself and Kandase to go down and handle the guards. Ceril, Dew, if you're alright with it, I would like you two being our lookouts and making sure that we aren't caught totally off-guard by some sort of trap being sprung. Does that sound alright to you three?" She took a deep breath afterwards, having only taken a single breath in all of the time that it took her to instruct and seek out the insight of the situation placed in front of them from her teammates.

Kandase was the first to beam a smile, eagerly nodding. "Oh, yeah. It's been too damn long since I've had a chance to kick some butt." She popped her knuckles and her neck, gaining an annoyed, sideways glance from Dew.

"I, uh, don't quite understand why C and I have to stay behind while you and...her get to have all the fun."

It was there that Velvet gave a lesson that had been taught to her once, as well as one that Kandase had taught others. "Combat isn't all about heroics. Sometimes, for the good of the group, you need to play to your own strengths in order to help the entire unit succeed. You and Ceril are much more effective, with your abilities and weapons, from a distance. It would take too much strain on my Semblance to cast a Hard-Light copy from that far away, and Kandase can't hit any targets from this distance, which looks to be about 15, 20 meters." She then added a set of words that she had never uttered to anyone, in recent memory. "Trust me. I know what I'm doing."

Kandase eyed Velvet with a look of pride and satisfaction that made her herself feel warm inside. Dew, taking Velvet's words and analyzing her own feelings about them, slowly nodded. "That makes sense. Just don't get yourself killed alright?"

Velvet grunted with an inflection at the end. "Same goes to you." Dew nodded and turned to Ceril. "You got any scopes for that thing? Or do you just use iron-sights?" Dew asked him, eyeing for any bulges in his pockets.

"I do just fine with irons, thank you very much." Ceril whispered, crossing his arms over his chest for a second before flipping the strap of his weapon to place it in his hands. Dew gave him an incredulous look.

"Did you just call them irons?"

"Erm-" He cleared his throat, running his fingers along the grooves of the gun. "Yeah."

She pointed her index finger, poking it into his chest. "You're weird. You're a weird guy."

Ceril looked over to Velvet and Kandase, asking for help with his eyes. "Alright. We have our assignments. Let's get to work."

Velvet took point with Kandase in tow as she began to step out from behind the boulder. Before she was able to stick out her entire leg, a burst of fire kicked up the dust mere centimeters from it, sending an impulse in her brain to send it flying back. "What the crap was that?" Dew loudly whispered.

"Well, I suppose that the element of surprise is off the table. How did they know that we were here?" Velvet thought out loud, leaning against the rock as she looked up to the afternoon sky, racking her brain for a possible answer. From the opposite side of the rock, Kandase declared that she had the answer. "I think I know how."

Velvet carefully crawled over a prone Ceril and a crouched Dew to make her way to Kandase. There, she looked into a small mirror that Kandase had produced, likely from one of her many pockets on her suspenders, and leaned further back so Velvet would be able to see what she herself had already seen. Then, she let out a small gasp, not only for the shock of the answer, but because of how she could have let herself overlook such a vital detail.

"She's a Faunus."

"What?" Dew said in a normal speaking voice, leaving behind her silent voice.

"She said that one of the guards is a-" he began to whisper.

"Oh, I know what she said, Ceril! And you don't need to whisper. The frickin' Faunus chick has been toying with us the whole time! Damn!" She slammed the flat end of her fist into the rock behind her.

"Easy! We're not out of this yet. Don't forget that we have a Faunus of our own, who likely outdoes the other one on a whole bunch of scales. And, yes. I meant for her to hear that, and I know she did." Kandase said with a small smirk. "How are we going to do this, V?" She turned her eyes to Velvet, looking to her for direction and guidance.

Velvet, taken aback by the leadership position that had fallen into her lap once more, took a deep breath, thinking of a plan of action that would allow them to all walk away alive. Once such a course of action had formed within her mind, she turned to Ceril. "Ceril, if Kandase offers you a sort of smokescreen, do you think you could into a position to offer covering fire?"

Now it was Ceril's turn to smirk. "You give me the smoke, I'll do the smoking." He hefted his weapon.

Velvet waved her hand to ensure that Ceril stayed in their realm of reality. Wanting to ensure the total secrecy of their plan, or at least a certain portion of it, she slipped out a piece of paper from her satchel strapped to her back, as well as a pencil, and began to write down onto it.

Intimidation shots only. Only shoot to kill if you absolutely have to.

Ceril made short time of reading it, looking up to Velvet with a stern face. "You got it. I'll give them what for, and then some." To show that he wasn't serious, he gave a small wink to Velvet before leaning against the rock, awaiting the promised smokescreen. Upon seeing this, Velvet leaned over and whispered in a barely audible voice into Kandase's ear.

"Do what you do best."

Kandase scrunched her face. "You want me to kill them?"

"What? No, no, no. I-"

"Ah, don't sweat it, Velvet. I know what you mean." Giving a bellowing laugh, she called out to their enemies within the canyon. "Hey, there, creepos! I'd hate to pull the wool over your eyes, so I'll use smoke instead!"

Velvet didn't mention it to anyone, but at the last second, she realized that there was a small chance that the Faunus would be able to see through the smoke. As it came across her mind, Kandase had already leapt into the air and dispensed an explosive throwing knife, giving Ceril the signal to sprint from his own hiding place and execute his portion of the plan. She hoped that her plan would work, so she would have such a guilt of failure upon her shoulders.

Thankfully, that portion of the plan did, miraculously, go off without a hitch. She could hear the two guards from across the way become disoriented, calling out to each other amidst the cloud of dust and the aftermath of the large explosion. Velvet heard the sounds of popping consistent with gunfire from her right side. When she could hear Velvet calling her name, ushering her forward, she hopped over the rock into the dust. With her heightened vision, the otherwise-impairing layer of dirt proved no hinderance to her vision.

She first caught sight of the older man, single-barrel shotgun glowing a light-blue color, still trying to organize himself against this assault. Velvet extended her leg into the air, and swung it down in a fluid motion over the barrel of the weapon, sending it flying into the ground. Startled, the man raised his fists, desperatley trying to look through the sand for an enemy that he would not be able to see until it was too late, a panicked expression over him. As her foot touched the ground underneath her, Velvet spun on her heels, rearing her fist back, palm open.

With precision that she had honed for the months and years that preceded that day, Velvet practiced a level of restraint as she slammed the lower-end of her palm into the face of the unsuspecting foe. As he was sent flying back, into the farthest wooden pole that held up the canopy and causing its structural compromise, she heard the distinct noise that let Velvet know Kandase had dispatched her enemy in a single blow. She looked over, startled to see that the other guard was nowhere to be seen, only Kandase inspecting her fingernails, her hip bent.

"Kandase, where's-"

"Give it a sec." Was all that Velvet got for a reply. As she stood in baffled silence, looking on at Kandase, she could hear a scream of terror from above. As she began to look up, she could hear Kandase count. "3,2,1..." She held out her arms in a cupped gesture.

Velvet looked back to Kandase as her opponent flew down from the air, directly into Kandase's arms. A look of desperation on her face, the girl, who looked to be the same age as Kandase. "Hi!" She said with a beaming grin. "Nice of you to...drop in!" Before the woman could respond or react in any way, Kandase removed her arm from around the legs of the guard. Just as her legs began to descend, Kandase, with the precision and speed of a bolt of lightning, reared her fist back and slammed the tanned, blonde woman face-first into the dirt below. "Kandase!" Velvet said, shocked at what she was certain was a murder being committed.

Kandase chuckled, waving her hand to Velvet as if to brush off her shock. "Take it easy. Her Aura wasn't completely depleted. At least I don't think so, anyway. Either way, you can clearly see that she's still breathing, living to be a thorn in our side for another day." Another chuckle, bending down to turn the woman's body over. "See? Her lungs are still moving. No external wounds to speak of. All that she's gonna wake up with is a gnarly headache and the memory of the time she thought she could put a gun in this member of the Bellerini clan's face."

Velvet apologized for doubting her friend, which was again met with a wave of the hand. "No worries, V. I get your whole noble thing you've got going on."

Shortly after, the two helped each other remove the tarp from the contents of the canopy, digging through the contents to see whether or not there was a piece of equipment or information that would allow them to progress in their investigation. Kandase and Velvet took to opposite sides of the area, scouring the contents that had once inhabited the three now-overturned steel tables within the area under the canopy. "A nasty infection just waiting to happen." Kandase said as she ran one of her index fingers lightly across the rusted edges of the nearest table. Velvet remained silent, eyeing the array of seemingly random objects on the ground before her.

Velvet crouched, rubbing her chin as she moved away things that seemed unimportant to her in hopes of uncovering something that was. Among the equipment that was strewn across the ground by the overturning of the table, Velvet pushed aside several wrenches, screwdrivers and hammers that had slowly begun their process of oxidation, looking for anything that jumped out at her as something of use. There, under said tools, was a small, metallic, cylindrical machine, that appeared to have a rubber base. It was as long as her hand, as wide as a can of soda.

She picked it up in her hands, turning it over to see if there were any engravings on its otherwise smooth surface. All that her eyes were able to make out were a serial number and a single word: Cell. With this small bit of information, Velvet deduced that the device in her hands was some sort of power cell. She stood, and turned it over in her hands again, looking for an indicator of what type of Dust was used by the small piece of equipment in her hands. To her surprise, there was nothing to speak of, nor a place with which any Dust crystals could be inserted, as was the norm with any kind of fuel cells that Velvet was accustomed to ("If you don't know how to work a vehicle, then you're as good as dead out there on your own. It's as essential a skill as learning how to split a Grimm in two." Dorian had said on one occasion in which she had decided to lay upon Velvet all of her and Qrow's collective knowledge of both land and sea vehicles.)

Curious, and filled with the drive to find the means by which this apparatus operated, Velvet crouched once more, rummaging through the seemingly unimportant tools and mechanisms. When it seemed that there was nothing that would help her quench her thirst for knowledge, a small black item that had been flung far from the other equipment that it had once shared the table with, a meter away. Velvet moved before her mind had a chance to command her body to rise, nearly stumbling to the dirt. Her hands caught herself, sliding along the surface of Remnant.

Velvet looked back, relieved to see that Kandase had failed to take note of her small moment of user-error. She turned again to face the black apparatus which was lying by itself on the ground. It appeared to be a port mechanism, similar to one that a being would use to plug a battery into for charging. It was a square, black box, with a large circular depression in the center, corresponding to the shape and dimensions of the power cell that she held in her hand. There was a small switch over the front of the box, labeled 'Test' over it with black marker and masking tape.

Well, that's self-explanatory. Velvet inserted the power cell into the box, hearing a click just prior to the action. She flipped the small switch, eyeing intently for some sort of reaction. After several seconds, the apparatus, and the battery, began to spark and smoke in her hands.

In a panic, she looked around for the least occupied area, realized that there was an abundance of such areas, and hurled it as far as her arm would allow her (which ended up being around 30 Meters). She observed with a small shudder as the mechanisms exploded, sending a small trail of black smoke up into the air in the distance. Velvet let out a sigh of relief, partially that her own need for information hadn't gotten Kandase and herself killed as well as the fact that the damage was far away from them.

The sound of Kandase's voice from behind her broke her attention from her folly, giving her reason to turn her attention to her companion who had since found a beaten-up scroll. Velvet looked over her shoulder at the trail of smoke once more, then walked over the small area to her friend.

'Why do they have a Scroll?" She thought aloud, pointing a crooked finger at the seemingly useless device. "I thought the loss of the CCT made them obsolete?" Velvet heard the sound of dirt being moved and the patter of footsteps nearby, but she dismissed it as that of small animals, and focused on Kandase again.

"Well. That is usually the case, but they don't need the CCT to record video and physically drop it off." She said with a shake of the head.

"What would they have to record?" Velvet asked, the hesitation causing her voice to shake. She still wasn't entirely sure what the limits of her capabilities were, and she was almost certain that she didn't want to, even if she needed to.

"I don't know yet. I wanted to watch it with you." She pressed the button at the bottom of the Scroll, then extended it. The screen, to her own surprise, powered on, giving way to the last file that was opened: as Kandase predicted, it was a video file. The two eyed each other, wariness evident in both of them, then Kandase moved her finger over the icon of the file, clicking on it to trigger the playback. Another shuffle, and Velvet ignored again.

The scene opened to a darkened room, black walls with red borders along the edges of the wall. It was an immediate red flag to Velvet that the video had something to do with Ratel. Two of Ratel's gang members, or two people dressing in the same colors and style of dress, dragged a shivering boy and girl who looked no older than those one may see in combat school, 12 or 13. Their hands were tied behind their backs, and dried tears were overshadowed by the fresh-flowing. Small bits of mucus were flecked against the bottoms of their noses. They attempted to look at each other, but were shoved straight by the two ambiguous guards behind them. Both were tanned, the one on the right donning a ponytail with a distinct scar over their face similar to Kandase's. Both donned red bandannas to conceal the lower portion of their faces, and black sunglasses to hide the rest of their distinctive features.

They held the two students, gripping their shoulders tight with black leather gloves. In between them emerged, from behind, Honey Ratel. She placed an arm on the nearest shoulder of both of her subordinates, cocking her head and smirking into the camera. "Hello, wonderful and slightly-subhuman people of Remnant. Who I am..." She paused, taking a deep breath as if reveling in the fame that the video and its contents would bring her. "Will be made known to you soon enough. I am here for one purpose, and I am going to show you, through the conduits of these two willing subjects." She paused, nodding to each of her members and placing a syringe that was filled with a black substance in each of their now-outturned hands. "This is the future, the way to peace. It is a surefire way of bringing about the end of all conflict amongst man and Grimm. 'How', you may be asking? 'How can two kids, who don't even look like they're out of combat school, be able to end all war?' Well, ladies and gents, this is how."

"No. She wouldn't be that bold-would she?" Kandase said, rubbing her chin with her free hand. It took all of Velvet's willpower to not beg her to stop the video. She bit her tongue, and allowed the playback to continue.

Another nod from Ratel, and a nod in reply from her subordinates. In unison, they injected the strange serum into each of the students, eliciting pained cries from the ones being injected. They called out the name of each other, falling into deep convulsions. As per the orders that Ratel gave during this period, the two members refused to allow the two to fall to the floor, keeping them in camera shot. The convulsing was soon paired with black boils that protruded from the skin of the students at an alarming rate. When the boils burst, they spread along the skin to pave the way for more boils to endure the same fate. The two test subjects' heads hung low, as they had become unconcious as a result from the painful procedure. Ratel eyed them eagerly, turning her head to face both of them. After several more seconds, their bodies went limp, and Ratel's smile disappeared.

Their faces began to contort, noses expanding to resemble that of dogs. What was left of their human skin was covered by a fleet of black veins that flowed from the top of their heads down to the tips of their fingers and toes. The smile on Ratel's face returned, and the gang-members turned away with expressions of disgust. The two test subjects looked to each other once more, speaking in nothing more except low growls. "Interesting. They've managed to inherit the pack mentality from the Beowolves. Interesting." Ratel muttered. They raised their heads, giving way to the sight of the two having developed solid black scleras, their retinas white. They had sets of teeth, razor-sharp, that popped out from their black lips.

A pair of thin white stripes had been formed, the color similar to that on a Grimm mask, with red borders, stretching from the ends of where their eyebrows once were, stretching along to the ends of their new snouts. Their lips quivered, slowly curling back into snarls as their growls became more present. The two looked over their shoulders at the gang member who was holding onto their mutated friend opposite themselves. The two gang members had since straightened their gaze, not looking down to see the sets of black claws slowly sliding out of each of the test subject's 10 fingertips. Without notice, they spun around. As they reared back to strike, the video went black, the only thing filling the void being a curled, circular arrow.

"I don't believe it. She's actually going to try doing it." Velvet said, taking a step back from Kandase, putting a hand over her mouth and looking at the surrounding area, as if it would somehow erase what she had just seen. She turned her gaze back to Kandase, who shared a similar expression. "Kandase. I know what we saw about The Parthenon, but..." Velvet paused, impossible to come to terms with the fact that she would be able to make such an impossible decision. Kandase must have understood as well, for she put up a hand, silencing Velvet.

"I understand. After what we just saw, this definitely takes precedence. Velvet-" Kandase swallowed a lump in her throat before continuing. "You don't think his sister was the girl in the video, do you?"

Velvet had not given such a thought ample time in her mind, and it was not one that she was prepared to entertain. "No. I don't think so."

"What makes you say that?" Kandase said, shaking her head and tilting it.

"I don't know. I just feel like Ratel would know, somehow, by now that his sister was related to one of the people in our group. If I was in her position, I would use the poor girl as a bargaining chip of some sort."

Kandase stayed quiet, running Velvet's words through her. "Yeah. It's not a perfect theory, but it's plausible enough. This Ratel chick isn't stupid. She's probably going to be looking for whatever advantage she can get to pull us out of her side."

Velvet nodded. She had thought the same thing, precisely. "Perhaps we're going to get a little lucky and be right about this."

Her ears registered the shuffling of dirt behind her, but before she could react, she was gripped from the back, a thick arm with white, wispy hairs wrapping around her throat. She gagged a small amount, but stopped when she activated her Aura to repel the attacker. As she heard Ceril from afar prepare to shoot Velvet's attacker, and watch as Kandase withdrew one of her regular throwing knives to hurl, Velvet sprang into action.

She slammed her heel into the toe of the older man's boot, thrust her elbow back into his hip area, flung her head back to connect with his nose, and leapt upward to gain the momentum to flip the stunned guard over her back and onto the ground in a single fluid stroke. Before the older man could attempt to regain his bearings and rise, Velvet slammed her heel into his chest, knocking the wind out of him and keeping him on the ground. She picked up on a small cough under the sound of Kandase's furious clapping and whooping.

"Whoa! That was sick, brutal, and totally amazing!" Velvet couldn't help but blush at the sound of one of her mentor's aplomb. "Now, I wonder. Who could have taught you something like that?" She asked to the general area rhetorically.

Velvet felt the urge to join in the fun that Kandase was having with herself, but she was brought back to the task at hand by the feeling of the older man rolling about under her foot. She pressed her heel down again to keep him docile, then leaned down. "Where was that video taken?" She asked sternly.

"Piss off." Velvet raised her heel, only to thrust it into his sternum once more, eliciting a pained groan.

"Try again." Velvet instructed.

"Alright. The truth is is that I don't know. Someone gave it to me, and I was instructed to go with Gina-my friend that you knocked out over there, to distribute it among the different news stations in the 4 Kingdoms. We were going to make copies of it."

Remembering the fuel cell that she had found earlier, Velvet was not entirely convinced that the man was being sincere. "You're lying." She said impulsively.

"You can't prove that, even if I was." He added.

"Start telling the truth. There's something that you're leaving out. What is it?"

"Uh, it was taken in Carat. That's all there is to know. Nothing else, honest." He smiled a panicked grin up at Velvet, revealing a mouth with a blackened tongue and several missing teeth, with several more capped with gold casings.

"The fuel cell!" Velvet shouted, her patience running thin. "Where does the fuel cell fit in?"

"Um, fuel cell? What are you talking abou-?"

"Start talking, or my friend with the knives gets a turn."

His face went blank, and his eyes looked hesitantly to Kandase, who had since taken to mimicking the running the blade's edge of the knife she had produced along her tongue. Velvet felt a small amount of satisfaction as he breathed in a gasp of shock. "Okay! it was a prototype. We're using something like that to power our cars, so we can run operations more smoothly when we branch out into the other Kingdoms. We were going to sell it, as well, to the producer of that serum. That's all I know."

Still unsatisfied, Velvet leaned against the leg that was on top of the older man, applying more pressure. He gasped for air, giving Velvet reason to relieve the pressure a small amount. In her mind, it was her mercy that separated herself from her enemies. Without it, Velvet knew that there would be no point in standing between them and the innocent people of Remnant. "Who is making the serum?"

As she had expected, the older man gave a response of ignorance. "I don't know. I don't know!" He glanced over to Kandase, who had begun strolling in a casual, but slow manner, over to them. Velvet, under her heel, could feel the beginnings of hyperventilation, and could hear the sounds of dry sobs coming from his lips. "Some guy in Atlas or something! That's a rumor that I heard! I'm just the middle-man. No! Less than that! I'm a grunt! I don't know anything!"

This time, Velvet was certain that the man, under the pressures of human nature and self-preservation, had given all that he was able to. She nodded to Kandase, who nodded in return, coming just close enough so that she was able to bend over and meet the gaze of the frightened gang member between them. "Aw. Guess we'll have to postpone our little play-date for another time. Until next time, Snookums!" She said with a bubbly lisp that conveyed the idea that Kandase was criminally insane. She reared her foot back and kicked the older man in the head, sending him into unconciousness. "It's better this way." She said to Velvet. "He seems the type who's able to take care of himself. As soon as the two of them wake up, the sun will have gone down, and they'll have the chance to get back out to wherever it is they came from. Sure, they'll just be thrown back into circulation, but we have the benefit of not getting crushed under the weight of their deaths."

"I concur. Kandase, we need to get to Carat as soon as possible. Who knows how much time we have before they try doing something like this again?"

"True enough. We need to get out of here. See if either of your friends know the way." They began walking, when Kandase stopped Velvet with the gripping of her shoulder. "Velvet. I don't think it needs to be said what liabilities we can put on the other two if we tell them about what we saw just now."

Although she wasn't comfortable with lying again, Velvet was fully aware of the repercussions should it be revealed to either Dew or Ceril what was being done to people. Such information had disgusted even Kandase, someone who had seen the worst of humanity. Velvet did not wish to fathom what psychological damage such a revelation as genetic experiments and the deformed creatures that came out of them would have upon her new friends. For the time being, she, too felt it best to allow them the blessing of ignorance. "I feel the same way. If at all possible, I'd like to avoid such pain and turmoil upon them for as long as possible."

"Right." Kandase said. "And who knows, V. We might just do so good a job that they never even have to know about the horrible things that Ratel is doing. That is our job, after all. To save lives, and protect the public from all the scary things in the world. This is what we were trained for."

Velvet couldn't put her finger on the reason why, but Kandase's words did not make her feel the weight of their mistrusts and of the task at hand any less. She recalled her father once saying that things always had to get worse in order to get better.

I hope your words don't hit their mark here, Father. Things don't always have to get worse, do they?

Although she told herself such things, Velvet's heart was locked in a different set of opinions, entirely. She kept these thoughts to herself, however, as her and Kandase both elected to construct a makeshift tent of three poles and the tarp for the unconcious gang members. "This way, they won't get a heatstroke out here in the bare sun." Velvet informed, with more aplomb from Kandase in the form of "Always Velvet with the heart of gold."

In that moment, Velvet was assured once more that, while things would most assuredly get bleak, and they were all due to witness horrible things along their journey, they would never be truly alone so long as they had the calming words of their past mentors and their friends at their sides. She assured herself that, no matter the storm, her and her friends would be able to ride it out, if not prevail over the rains themselves.

"Velvet. Are you alright?" Kandase asked, when Velvet realized that she had stopped in a trance-like state upon their walk back.

"Oh. Erm. Yeah." Velvet began to follow Kandase as she turned her back, feeling slightly embarrassed.

She eyed Ceril and Dew, who were looking at her with suspicious expressions. Velvet felt even more self-concious when she realized that her small trance had attracted such attention from all of her friends. Upon the ascent from the edge of the canyon rim, the two asked of her well-being as well. "Don't worry. I'm fine."

"Did you find anything that can help us down there? Was there anything that you found out about what they're doing with my sister?" Ceril asked, his eyes wide with both fear and anticipation.

Velvet felt the hair stand on the back of her neck. Despite what every fiber of her being told her, she knew that she could only do one thing that would keep the peace among the four of them.

"No. We didn't find anything down there, related to that."

"Oh. Well, that's a relief. You two will let us know if you find anything, right?"

Velvet and Kandase exchanged a glance with each other, pleading with their eyes to let the other one answer. "Of course." They said in near unison. Velvet shuddered, knowing well-enough how artificial that sounded. Dew and Kandase seemed to buy the response, however, and nodded, thanking the two of them.

"It's our pleasure. Don't forget that you two are just as much in this as we are. You're as vital as we are in the effort." To Velvet, she sounded like one of the people that could be found in a recruitment video for one of the four combat academies within the Kingdoms.

"Wow. You sound like one of those goons who's trying to get us to join up for the military or the police force or something." Dew observed, no sign of humor in her voice. Kandase pursed her lips, but said nothing in response.

"Anyway. We're not the most essential part of the team. We're all needed, for the unit. Don't forget that. Now, it's hot as crap out here, so why don't we get back to Charlotte and see if we can't find Carat." Kandase said, crossing her arms. Dew scoffed, and smirked at Ceril.

"We can't take you to Carat." She said dryly.

"And why not?"

"Because there isn't a Carat anymore."


	15. The Velveteen Faunus: Vol 2 Chapter 15

"What's the status on our two lovely guests?" I asked my assistant as we walked down the corridor of the summer home that I had built into the side of the northern rim of the Mosiac canyon. It was a lovely home of black and red, and I oversaw construction myself, sometimes unable to fight the urge to join in myself. Before his days as a Huntsman, my older brother was a part of a construction crew in our old village. I remember, as a little girl, watching him and all of his friends build the most elegant constructions at the request of our town elders. Even then, I would beg to let him join in on the building. 'Oh, no, sweetheart. Mom and Dad would skin me alive if I let you onto a construction site. Maybe when you're older, okay?' He would always say, even when I was older. Of course, as is the norm in a world like Remnant, our chances ran out.

That was when I ran away, all the way from southern Atlas to Vacuo. I gotta say, that was a culture shock if there ever was one. It took me a little while to learn how to get into the swing of things and not get killed in the process. I made the good call of stopping worrying whether or not my other, less significant family in the village whose name I don't even remember anymore. I burned the bridges that the bandits already had, but in a figurative sense. Heh, look at me, with my command of the literal and the figurative. Why are you looking at me like that? Oh, the story. Right.

Anyway. Me and my handy little assistant were walking down this hallway. Once again, I don't have the slightest recollection of what her name was. In my life, I learned that getting too attached to any one person too quickly would only lead to pain and heartbreak. I suppose that's why, out of all the people on Remnant, I've decided to let myself get close to the one person who has the most resentment and opposite of world views as I. No matter what I put her through, I could always count on her to come back. I'm just funny like that, I guess.

Oh. I'm getting off here, again. Get to know me, sometime, and you'll find that's pretty commonplace for this ol' gal. Well, we were walking, and I asked what i did. She tilted up her horned rimmed glasses, clearing her throat. That's almost all that I remember about her, aside from her hot short, pink, bouncy curls. I pushed my own hair back over my ear. I had it in its 'weekend 'style, a low ponytail, with the white in a thin braid down the center. "Ma'am?" My assistant said in the voice that always showed up when she thought I was bordering on maniacal. She would always try to keep me in line like that, and I would appreciate that (even if I never said it to her while I could) of her. Spilt milk, I guess.

"Well, alright. How are the kids doin--I'm sorry. I can't say it with a straight face." I said with a chuckle. "I feel like we lose that professional air when we call them 'kids'. When we say 'test subjects', we sound like people who are actually working towards the greater good of humanity. When we call them 'kids', we sound like two divorcees discussing the terms of joint custody. Maybe it's just me?" I said, nudging my assistant's shoulder, causing her to flinch violently for half a second. She adjusted her glasses again.

"N-no, ma'am. Not just you." I could hear the insincerity in her voice, but, unlike how I would with others, elected to say nothing. She was one of the few people, aside from that Velvet girl, that I did not find in myself joy when attempting to, well, murder them.

"Alright, then. So how are they?" I said, making my evasion nearly invisible.

"They're, frankly, quite miserable."

"I didn't ask how they were feeling. I mean, it's not like we're making them the guests of honor for brunch. Oooh, brunch does sound good, now that I say it out loud. What do you think, should we have brunch after this?" I said, cocking my head as I walked and looked up to the ceiing.

"Oh. Erm, well, I could always eat." My assistant said, obviously taken aback by the random comment.

"Works for me. Hup, I'm getting off of topic here. Ok. How are..." I waved around my hand, trying to find the word that would suit the both of us. "The two of them? Logistically." I finished shakily.

"Well, they're stable. Their psychological states are questionable." I shot her a warning glance, silencing that portion instantly. "Physically speaking, they have no ailments to note. They seem in pristine condition for childrens of their age."

"That is wonderful. We can't afford any complications, especially today."

"If you don't mind my asking, Ma'am, what exactly are we doing today?" Normally, I would have had someone killed for asking such a forward question to me, but my assistant had some leeway, and I always had a feeling that she knew it.

"Well, we are doing a little demonstration here, as per the suggestion of our new supplier and mentor of mine. Not sure if I told you about him, but he's a lovely guy. Maybe you two can meet up sometime." I half-joked. I was seriously considering, at the time, sending her up to learn from Watts and whoever was running him (he never struck me as the type to be totally independent). She was the only one in our group that I would have been remotely sad to lose, and it hurt like hell when it actually came around to happening.

She agreed to the suggestion of the meeting that would never come, and it was then that I realized that we had stopped moving down the hallway. I began walking once more, and turned my eyes straight. continuing with the little bit I was going on with earlier. "He told me that the people wouldn't take us seriously until they had viable reason to think that we need to be taken seriously. Since that was the case, I felt that the best way to approach getting such a result was, you guessed it, a documented experimentation."

"So, the rumors are true?" She asked me, unable to hide the slightly concerned tone in her voice. I pretended to be ignorant of the fact that this up-and-coming event was being circulated throughout the different ranks of the branches of the Badgers. I didn't chastise her because, well, yeah. You get the idea.

I confirmed the rumor that had been undoubtedly swirling about in her mind for some time in the affirmative. She said nothing to confirm it, but the subtle pursing of the lips showed me just how uncomfortable experimenting on younger individuals made her. It was there that a first was acheived, and I stopped, conciously this time, and put a hand on her collarbone to stop her advance. "You know that I won't hold anything against you if you don't want to see this."

Her eyes widened, and she clasped her hands over her chest. "Oh, but Miss Ratel. I would never forgive myself if I were to abandon your side in the moment of prelude to your hour of triumph on behalf of the greater good of Remnant." Oh, if there was anyone who was on god-level of buttering me up, then it had to be her.

"I can't argue with you there. This is going to be the precedent to a damn glorious day. Shall we?" I gestured my hand forward, urging her on. She nodded, smile that smile that showed that she was willing to put aside all of her concerns of morality, to put her own integrity into question, to make sure that I wasn't alone in my endeavors. I loved her for that, but I never got the chance to let her in on that little secret of mine.

We finally reached our destination, which was an old study that I had converted into an glorified bookroom. Being the gentlewoman I was, I allowed my assistant into the room first, in contradiction to what was normally seen from a 'vicious' crime lord like myself and their hired help. They could all walk into a Grimm den, for all I cared. She hefted her clipboard in her hand, and walked in. We met two grunt soldiers that I had just met that day, and tried not to notice the awe in their faces as they caught sight of me.

"So, boys. Are we good to go in here?"

"Yes, ma'am, Miss Ratel." One of them squeaked. He sounded, and looked, underneath his glasses, to be a kid of only 12 or 13. I made a mental to personally find whoever it was that brought this little one into our crew and remind him or her that even gangs should have some shred of compassion, at least enough to not bring a child onto a battlefield teeming with death. For the moment, however, I nodded in agreement, and looked to the other gang member, identical in every aspect aside from the fact that he was twice the size and a shade darker, with maroon hair.

I looked over to my assistant with no name, and smiled. She returned the gesture. "This is the dawn, people. We're going to show the world how to pave the way to peace. These are the bricks for doing it. It was in humanity all along, but we simply needed to give them the tools to finish the bridge our ancestors, my father, began building for true harmony. And," I bent down, lingering in the terrified eyes of each subject. They looked to be somewhere inbetween Scarlatina and the grunt to my immediate right. "Lets not forget the brave sacrifice that these two are about to make. I can understand why you're crying. I'm pretty afraid of needles, too. But don't worry. If my calculations are right, it'll all be over in a matter of seconds. You have my word, guys."

The small boy to my left, curled his mouth into a snarl and spat in my direction. I easily side-stepped the ball of saliva, the temptation to do away with having two subjects and kill the small offender then and there becoming too much to bear. I took a deep breath, and felt the initial rage subside, overtaken with the logic that I had deduced earlier of why two subjects achieving identical results would concrete our tests "I understand why you're upset. I don't hold that agaisnt you. All I ask is that you cooperate, and not hinder our efforts with any childish antics."

"If we do what you say," The other child squeaked in his prepubescent speech, trying in vain to hide his fear. "Will you let us go?"

I walked over to him, and looked into his misty eyes. There was no way for me to immediatley tell whether or not these children had been mistreated while they were under the Badger's care. I made another mental note to find out later, and punish the guilty, should any be found.

I cradled his chin in my hand, and smiled as warmly as I could. I knew that my next words would determine how smoothly the experiment would go. "I won't let you go." As soon as I saw the stricken expression form on the child's face that conveyed their confusion and fear, I elaborated. "These two will." I finished, gesturing to the guards restraining them. The softening of their eyes appeared to put them at ease, as was my intention. In my experience, I learned that the most unruly test subjects were the most scared. "Is everyone ready? Are you two ready to make history?" I looked down at the two test subjects, who appeared to be slightly excited with the knowledge of the importance of the role that they were fated to play. The one that had spit at me earlier nodded with a small grin on the edge of his lips. The other, with a more passive smile, stayed still. I couldn't tell, to be perfectly honest with you, whether he was anticipating the release he imagined that would never come, or having the same thoughts that his partner was. Frankly, I didn't care too much. What was to be done was underway, and it would be finished, no matter what kind of emotions ng passed through them. After all, science is about logic, not to be blinded by passion.

Out of the corner of my eye, I watched as a young woman who appeared to be the same age as Scarlatina pass through the door, Scroll in hand. I remembered seeing her around before almost instantly, recognizing her as a member of the group I had constantly chastised over a particular set of her attire that stuck out.

"Damn it. What did I tell you about that White Fang mask?! Take it off, because it draws too much attention to you. I mean, I get that you're proud of that part of your life, but it's over now. You're part of something even better." I half-joked, as she slipped her mask off her face. "Besides, it's not like people can't tell you're a Faunus anyway." I added, pointing upwards to her deer antlers. She looked away, turning red with embarrassment and slowly holding the Scroll out towards me. I swiped it away in a single arc, like a cat with a laser. "Thank you. That will be all." A nice way of saying, "Get out."

I moved to a small closet in the corner, where I found a tripod upon which I could place my newly-aqcuired Scroll. Placing in clear view of the four in front of me, my assistant moving out of camerashot, I looked up again. "We're live in 5. Only doing this once, so remember your lines." Another small joke to ease the tense mood within the room. I counted on one of my hands down from 5, curling one finger shut with each second that passed. When my hand was in a close fist, I moved my other hand to press the Home button on the Scroll, starting the recording process.

*

Alright, so call me a liar. It didn't last seconds, like I thought it would. The whole transformation was done in minutes. For the most part, the experiment was a success. It was just Dr. Watts said it would be. Unfortunately, he forgot to account for their violent outbursts soon afterwards (after the filming had completed, of course. Any other way would have destroyed the shot we made), which resulted in our putting down of what was once the two younglings. It was a tad hearbreaking to see such virile subjects go to waste like that, but if there's anything I've learned about science in my 25 years, it's that you must always be willing to make sacrifices for the greater good. Yae was certainly upset, their seeming to be good kids having quite the effect on her. Unfortunately, I didn't realize it then, there would be no other time to console her, like I had planned then. On the same note, I had no way of knowing I'd find a damn big reason to want that red-headed bitch friend of Scarlatina's dead.

... _Yae_. Her name was Yae.


	16. The Velveteen Faunus: Vol 2 Chapter 16

Kandase looked up to the sky and sighed. She pinched her nose before turning back to Dew. "Well, that's pretty damn cryptic. I don't suppose you're gonna leave us with a 'find out next episode' cliffhanger, are you?" She quipped, Velvet catching the hint of a smile at the corner of Kandase's mouth. Once again, Dew scoffed.

"Don't tempt me." She retorted, with a small growl from Kandase as fruit for her efforts. "Alright, alright, don't get your bra strap in a twist. Like I said, there's no Carat anymore. There hasn't been since I was a little girl. It used to be one of the only towns in all of Vacuo that was famous, infamous in the underworld, for having decent enough people to not allow their streets to be overrun with the scum of the t. They had it all: an actual legal system, cops that were untouchable by people like Ratel and that Watts jerk, and people who had the know-how and the integrity to keep it all in working order." Dew took a look at Kandase, sighed introspectively, and looked out into the distance. "It's like I told Velvet. There are no sanctuaries in Vacuo, at least not now. It was getting set to become the destination for a mass exodus, known as the only pure place left in this gods-forsaken world. It was giving the people something that the criminals couldn't have with the people they were trying to muscle: hope."

Kandase crossed her arm, looking over to Velvet, who knew what it was that had passed through her friend's mind. She felt the thought pass over her lips, almost without concious thought. "It seems to be a common trait among a crowd like that." Velvet observed, closing her eyes and tilting her head to the ground, crossing her arms as she became ever more familiar with the criminal mind.

"Exactly. They couldn't have such a nuisance breaking up the empire that they built, so they did what they always do in this situation: they put a hit out. From what I found out years later, they hired the best mercs that money could buy, and dove right in. It took six hours to get the whole job done. Anyone who couldn't be driven out was dealt with in...other ways." Velvet heard Dew sniffling as she fully turned her back to the two of them. Ceril walked over and put his arm around her shoulders. To her surprise, Dew did nothing to push him away. She heard Kandase shuffling to lean in close to Velvet.

"Ya know..." She began to whisper in Velvet's ear, cupping her hand over her mouth. "She could have saved a lot of time by just saying 'The place got wrecked by mercs and bandits." Velvet shot a warning glance at Kandase, who got the implied message almost immediately. "Ok, Ok. I get you. Bad for plot development. They should have their moment. Read you loud and clear."

Velvet shook her head, in a rare moment of annoyance, but said nothing to suggest it. She took back to looking at Dew and Ceril, trying to think of a way, the proper words, to console Ceril for what was obviously a sensitive subject for the both of them. "Perhaps, not all was destroyed." Velvet said, only to realize as she was saying the words that they were the exact wrong thing to say. Her ears caught Kandase muttering, "Uh, oh." Dew cocked her head back, misty-eyed. "You don't think I thought the same thing? You don't think Ceril thought the same thing? We've both been there, multiple times, to see what was left. There isn't anything, Velvet. Those freakin' mercs were thorough. Everyone is either gone or dead."

"Wait." Kandase said to call the other three to her. "If everyone there believes that there's nothing to be found there, wouldn't that make it the perfect place to have...something...to be found? Yeah, that." She finished, pointing her finger up at the late afternoon sun, piecing her thought together in her mind, a look of satisfaction on her face when she had achieved her goal. "Atta girl, Kandase."

"That's asinine." Dew said, venom on her tongue.

"No, no." Velvet interjected, walking in between the other two womens' line of sight, crooking her finger and placing it just beneath her lip. "Perhaps not."

"What do you mean, Velvet?" Ceril asked, unusually silent for the time beforehand.

"Well, I did encounter something similar to this before. In a small, inconspicuous warehouse that was actually a hideout for a gang of sorts. It was the first place that I had a run-in with that Honey Ratel." Velvet looked up as the sun was beginning its descent. It surprised her just how much time they had spent in that one location. It must have been hours, she reasoned in her mind.

"Huh. So, what they're saying, Dew, is that this kind of thing is in the Badger's MO. It doesn't seem too unreasonable now to have a look for the," Ceril struggled to recollect just how many trips both Dew and himself had made out to the fabled settlement of Carat. "Eighth time?" He looked to Dew for confirmation. She pursed her lips, then looked down to her feet.

"Nine. I went myself once."

"Well," Ceril crossed his arms, chuckling. "I see I'm not good enough for a break-in partner."

Velvet picked up Kandase groaning under breath, the idleness clearly irking her need for combat. However, it appeared that she was the only one who heard it, for Dew went on throwing jokes at her old secret friend. "Well, the incident at my ex-boyfriend's house kind of proved that, don't you--"

"Alright! Ladies and Germ, I am all for a good roast session, but I think we've forgotten that there happens to be a dangerous group of criminals bent on raining death, destruction, and all those pleasant things on the world for their own pleasant gain. I mean, I'm sure that our fearless leader agrees. Right, Velvet?" Velvet saw as Kandase's eyes pleaded with her to agree, although it was not necessary. Velvet saw the logic in Kandase's argument, and voiced her opinion in the like. "I concur. We've spent too much time here. Unless you all feel that you need a small rest..." Velvet trailed, opening the door for any responses.

"No way!" Dew called out vigorously, hefting the spear that was strapped to her back.

"We're ready to meet some more baddies!" Ceril said heartily in his nasally voice, which proved to be an awkward auditory experience for Velvet. She ignored the urge to throw a joke into the mix, mostly for the integrity of Ceril's feelings, and focused instead on the other portion.

"That sounds like a unanimous agreement. Let's go, then. You two can lead us to this fabled city, if you know the way, of course." Velvet declared, issuing the last statement as a sort of challenge to rile her comrades into action.

"Of course we do! We've only been there a million times!" Ceril affirmed.

"Nine." Dew corrected, sending Ceril into a fit of stutters.

"Oh, you know what I mean."

"Let's move out, then." Kandase suggested once more, with actual results to show this time around. The four moved back to Charlotte and climbed in thier impromptu seating arrangement throughout the vehicle. Dew drove around the rim of the canyon that they were in, a stoic look on her face. Velvet was afraid this was a sign that she wasn't as sure of where Carat laid. Twenty minutes of silent driving later, Velvet was thankfully proven wrong. There, just over a large dune hill, rested the dilapidated city that Dew and Ceril alike had spoken of. Charlotte easily cleared the dune with a considerable amount of airtime to accompany it.

"See? I told you I knew where it--Oh crap!" Dew drifted to a stop and demanded that everyone exit the vehicle. They all dove to the ground, pushing up small clouds of sand as they did so.

"Dew, what the fu--?" Kandase began.

"You were right. There's a patol around what's left of the city gates. Two chicks with Badger colors and rifles. They haven't made us yet."

"How can you tell?" Ceril asked,a puzzled expression over him.

"We're having this conversation without a hail of bullets flying over us."

"Oh. Right." Ceril leaned against the nearest tire, taking a deep breath, but saying nothing more.

"What do you think, Velvet? What's the call?" Kandase inquired,

"I've got an idea." When Kandase was set to silence Dew, Velvet put a hand up, causing Kandase's head to rear back in surprise. Velvet urged her teammate on. "I use that...special ability of mine to get the heaviest hitters of us, I think you know who, close enough to take out those two guards."

"What ability is that?" Kandase asked suspiciously, narrowing her gaze and leaning closer to Velvet. Velvet met Kandase's ear and whispered.

"I'll need to explain it to you at length, later. For now, just trust me." Kandase groaned with doubt, but agreed. "You'll see what happens soon enough. I'm sure you'll have twice as many questions then." Kandase said nothing, but looked back to Dew.

"Go on, Dew. I'm dying with anticipation." She said, with the smallest amount of sarcasm in her voice, but more of the joking tone you hear among friends.

Progress.

"Well, I won't lie to you. It's gonna feel pretty weird, and you may be the smallest bit disoriented. But, so long as you're not an idiot who gets thrown off by that type of thing, and I really hope that you aren't, you should come out of this alright, or at least alive."

"What else is new?" Velvet and Kandase said in unison, followed by a small burst of laughter. Velvet felt a warmness inside of her, relieved once more that she could have Kandase by her side.

"Velvet, Kandase, get into your fighting stances, then start punching the minute you come to. Ceril, sit there and try your best to look pretty. We may need you to give us some cover fire in case this is a trap."

"Can do."

"Alright. Let's do this." Kandase said with a smirk, popping her knuckles. She looked to Velvet, then Dew. "Do what you gotta do."

Dew nodded back and closed her eyes, as if concentrating her power. Velvet felt a ripple in the space around her, and was instantly transported mere meters from the guard. The instant Kandase and Velvet began their advance, two large, wormlike Grimm burst from the ground, yet not disturbing the sand, and swallowed the guards whole. Velvet thought it strange that the two guards did not give off even a grimace at being eaten alive, but she did not have long to ponder how all of these things came together. Kandase pulled her by the wrist, nearly dislocating it with how hard she pulled. "Oh, crap. Oh, crap. What is going on with this place?! That--That wasn't natural. Velvet, have you seen anything like that here? I mean, I've seen some weird stuff while here, but that wasn't right. It didn't seem physically possible." Kandase rambled, all while Velvet processed the past events in her own way, silently.

Something about that wasn't right. It looked as if it was staged, but there would be no way that Ratel or anyone could pay someone to kill themselves simply for an act. Unless it wasn't an act. What if it was--

"A hologram." Those two words stopped Kandase dead in her tracks, just short of the safety of Charlotte.

"What are you talking about?" She asked as she turned, slowly, to face Velvet.

"That's why their faces didn't react. That's why the Grimm didn't disturb the sand underneath them whenever they came up out of the ground. They weren't real." Velvet said.

"Velvet, that's crazy. Holograms don't look that real. You're just jumping to some major conclusions. It's gotta be the heat."

"I'll prove it."

"Oh? And just how are you--Hey! Where in the heck are you going? Those things are going to kill you! Velvet!" Kandase called out as Velvet, to her own surprise, broke the grip that Kandase held, and sprinted back to the exact spot where the two guards were apparently consumed. She quickly summoned a Hard-Light Copy of Nora's hammer and slammed it into the sand to attract the monsters that they had seen. Once again, Kandase called out to Velvet and beckoned her to return, not coming any further in, initially. Several seconds passed. Velvet's ears did not pick up anything unusual around or underneath her feet. She was beginning to think that nothing would come of her experiment until, on either side of her, appeared the same two gang members that everyone had witnessed being eaten. Velvet was surprised enough to stumble over herself and land in the sand behind her.

Looking over to Kandase, she could see that she shared the same dumbfounded expression as what was on Velvet's face. "Well, damn." Was all that she could manage to spit out before looking back to the other two who were still behind Charlotte.

"Velvet! Are you alright?" Dew called out, while the silent Ceril still kept the area around her in the scope of the rifle that he had produced. She could hear him mumble under his breath, "I wonder if _she's_ in there."

In response to Dew, the still-speechless Velvet raised a single thumb. As Dew called out that she was going to bring Charlotte through the gates, Velvet held up a hand for her to cease the advance. Velvet turned her head back to the nearby city wall. It was made of an adobe-like substance, and was crumbling as a result of years of disrepair. Beyond the opening in the wall that led into the city, Velvet could see dozens of buildings made of the same material that were also falling apart at different levels of severity. There were large chunks of adobe in the dirt roads, as well as the occasional passing tumbleweed. Velvet could see a lone doll in the street, as well as a wooden shop sign that had long fallen from its home. In front of it all, she saw a shimmer of something.

The crunching of shoes behind her gave away Kandase's advance. "You gonna get up off the ground anytime soon?" She said with a chuckle, meeting Velvet as she turned with an outstretched hand. Velvet accepted the gesture with thanks. She followed Kandase's eyes as they looked over what Velvet's just had. "Quite the picture." She said solemnly. "You think there's something in there? Something that we can use to track down Ratel?"

"I know so." Velvet said sternly, turning her head back to the perplexing scene.

"Oh? And what makes you say that?" Kandase asked with a hint of perplexion in her voice, obviously eager to see what Velvet had uncovered.

Without another word, Velvet pushed her hand into the shimmer that, appearently, only she could. With the sensation of water running over her hand and forearm, she was hardly surprised to see that portion of her arm totally disappear behind the invisible veil. The same could not be said for Kandase. Velvet saw, out of her peripheral vision, Kandase jump back half a meter in shock, throwing out a swear under her breath in the process. "What--how--what?" She cried out, struggling in vain to form a full sentence, her face contorted in disgust. Velvet put up her free hand, slowly removing the other to show, with no small amount of relief on her own part, that there was no harm done to it. "It's--an illusion?" Kandase pieced together, grabbing Velvet's hand and forearm, feeling it for any irregularities. When she could find none, she looked down to Velvet again. "Something is in there."

"But what?" Velvet said, voicing her curiosity. Kandase cocked her hips, and chuckled, her familiar confident smile finding a place on her face once more.

"There's only one way to find out, now isn't there?" She determined, just before crossing over to the other side of the shimmer. Velvet looked back to Ceril and Dew, gesturing for them to come along. The two looked at each other warily before following Velvet's suggestion. Velvet turned again, hesitation in her heart, against all rational thought. She was unsure what it was that awaited her beyond the shimmering illusion, and what would come out. She took a deep breath, as she always did to calm herself, and walked in, past the threshold and into the unknown.


	17. The Velveteen Faunus: Vol 2 Chapter 17

We stopped our solar-powered vehicle, a series of gifts courtesy of Dr. Watts and whoever else had provided him with whatever materials it was that he so desired. I'd never, in a million years, thought that such an alternative source of energy would be possible. When I asked him how it was all possible, he shushed me, saying some cryptic crap like "It'll all be found in good time, my dear." Normally, I'd shoot someone who thought to call me 'dear', but I was taught early on that you don't bite the hand that feeds you. All I knew, and all that I cared about, was that we had some good, reliable transportation that wouldn't suck up the little bit of Dust that we'd managed to smuggle into the country, before and after the embargo.

"Miss Ratel, I was led to believe that Carat was destroyed." Yae said from her seat next to me in the backseat of our large, black sedan. I chuckled and patted her shoulder with my hand. "I was too, a long time ago. Of course, I got set straight a little later on by one of my mentors. He let me in on a little secret. This is the biggest hub in all of Remnant for that one reason: even if all of the crime in the world was eradicated, we'd still have this little slice of heaven. This is where all of the big operations get planned, the big bosses are paid off, and where the scum of Remnant converges like barnacles to a boat's underside."

There were few people aside from her that truly knew I was profoundly disgusted by the people I was forced to work with. In truth, if I could have found a legitimate way to earn the Lien necessary to finish my father's work and get the power to do it, you'd better believe that I would have found it by now. I realized a long time ago that this was the fastest way to make the money I needed. This was the only way that people would take my ideas seriously. What a world, right?

We disembarked just outside of the old piece of crap building that I had picked out when the opportunity first came at me. It was like the old Dust Rush that had happened up north before I was even born. Men would rush to the site where Dust was found and stake their claim. It was just like that here, except I had to kill to get this building that, in my mind, looked exactly like the house I owned in Cleo. It was a piece of crap, still. I'd done my best to have the place patched up, replaced the pieces that had fallen off, and renovated all of the inside to my own liking. But...you can only do so much to broken.

I walked inside, looking to all the hustle and bustle that was all of my gang members assigned here getting all of our other test subjects and the equipment we were going to use on them prepped for the big experiment. I was especially looking forward to this one, considering the fact that it was going to be our first test on a large group. If this was the case, then we could do the same at Shade. That was where I was hoping to do the final injection. The big bang that would finally pave the road that humanity needed for peace. I could hardly contain myself in thinking about that day coming.

I stopped the first person that wasn't Yae, in our colors, to pass. It was someone who was close to my age, a dark man with white hair and a sliver of what one could call a moustache. "How's it going here, caterpillar face?" I joked, my poor attempt at taking the edge off of the obvious fact he was mortified I was talking to him, of all people. Of course, despite my best wishes, he still looked as if I was an Ursa that had popped out of his Pumpkin Pete's cereal box. I tried to push past that stigma with a question of our status, in some attempt to get to an actual conversation, but no dice. He told me what i thought I wanted to hear, and went on his way when I gave him permission to do so. Because that's what being Big Bad Honey Ratel will get you.

Before I had a chance to dwell on my pisspoor social situation for the hundredth time, I heard a hoarse female voice scream my name from outside the walls, attracting the attention of everyone inside. Of course, I demanded everyone to stay inside and await further command. As past experience had taught me, anyone wanting to help against an enemy looking for You-Know-Who seldom ever did in the end. I turned to Yae, instructing her to come as far as the door and retreat to a safe location should things get too hairy. There was no sense in getting her hurt over some petty dispute some Joe or Jane had with me.

"This better be good! I had some Ramen to get to!" I shouted as I stepped out into the open, stretching my arms in opposite vertical directions, discreetly using the hand pointing down to unsheathe the saw that was strapped to my thigh. I saw, to my far left, that an old frenemy shambled up the dirt road. Her name, I didn't remember. I did, however, instantly recognize as a girl that I attended Shade Academy with. She was a bit of a prep, goody-two-shoes that would never have associated with the burnout I was. Of course, that didn't stop her from selling me the answers that would end up getting me through to graduation day.

"Ratel! I've come for you!" She called out, as if I didn't already know that.

"No, really? I thought you were calling out my name just because you liked it!" I retorted, proud of myself.

She'd aged some since the last time that I'd seen her. She had long, black disheveled hair with white highlights. Admittedly, she had a pretty cute outfit. She had on a pair of killer red stilettos, along with a glittering golden evening gown, and the cutest little sunglasses that barely fit over her eyes. I mean, it wasn't the most practical outfit for the desert, sure, but it was pretty cute, nonetheless. She had a bottle of gin in her hand, and a beautiful, silver revolver with blue engravings on the barrel, chamber, and ivory from a Goliath on the handle. If memory served me correctly, there were two hammers behind the chamber, one of which would activate the mechanism to reveal a dagger that would come out of the base of the handle. I told myself to keep that in mind when and if (and let's be honest, I knew what was about to go down) things got violent. "Shaddup! You always had a mouth on you! That's wh--why I'm here to cut it out! You know the rules around here. Whoever ices who on their turf in Carat gets the house."

"Yeah...just like in the divorce!" I joked, purposely trying to throw this other chick off. It worked, because she began stammering.

"Wh--No! You talk too damn much!"

I chuckled, walking slowly out into the center of the street. "Too true. I got a good remedy for that."

"Let's fight, the--" Before she could even finish her drunken statement, I flash-stepped directly in front of her, saw drawn. I dug into her shoulder and pulled the saw over her skin before she could even activate her Aura. As she cried in pain, I flash-stepped away. Looking back, I saw that my old classmate was still dumbfounded at how she had been wounded this early in the game.It was just another way to prove to myself that I was one step closer to being the ultimate fighter, a little side-mission of mine. "Oh, you bitch!" She unsteadily raised her pistol, with her wounded arm and pulled the trigger. Of course, I could see this coming from a kilometer away, and had all the time in the world to dodge the bullet. It dug itself into the wall of an adobe house much smaller than mine, albeit in better condition, catching my attention for a split-second. I turned my head back to my old classmate whose name I never bothered to remember nor ask, and wagged a finger on my free hand at her. "Now, now. You could've hit someone."

"What the heck is your problem?"

In a drunken rage, she fired three more rounds, all missing me by far. I became slightly cocky after the first two rounds missed that I became a little sloppy. Don't you judge me, you would have done the same thing in my state. Power is intoxicating in many forms, just like alcohol. You can't say anything about it until you experience it yourself.

Anyway, I took the third round as a grazer just over my shoulder. The pain was...well, let's just say that it gave off the same feeling as some might feel during...it felt really good. Let's put it that way for the kiddos reading. I relished it, and used it to fuel me for the enjoyment of what was to come. That was when I decided that it was time to remove the ribbon from her eyes and reveal to her the ugly truth of what was going on, and what she was too blind to see. Like any good child, she needed to be corrected in misguided thinking. And being the good shepherd I was, I would lead her--and then, ya know, take her blood later.

"I've been toying with you for too long, I suppose." This seemed to get her attention more than the injury(which was still being left untreated, might I add, leaving a certain drunken fool bleeding over the sand). She gave off a surprised expression, and asked just what it was that I meant. I scoffed at her drunken ignorance, and promised that I'd show her. I rushed forward again, and drop-kicked her to the ground. There, I pressed my knees against her chest and leaned over her wound with my mouth. She didn't quite take well to what happened after.

I'm a little ashamed to say I damn near sucked her dry, and I had the second-hand drunkenness to show for it. I didn't have the foresight to stop myself before taking the alcohol level. I get a little crazy during these Blood Rushes of mine. I'm only human--I think. Anyway, I managed to get ahold of myself after an hour or so. I had the presence of mind to isolate myself, lest I would take a bite out of one of my gang members. While I was out, so to speak, Yae did what she always did after, the dirty deed that no one had told her to. She put the poor girl out of her misery.

When I came to, I looked down at the blood on my hands, turning them over from palm to back, and back again. I had the silent thought that I never even told Yae about, the one I shoved down in private to deal with alone. It was a solitary thought that no one besides me had ever, or should, known about. Many would attribute it to the aggression side-effect from the treatments that Watts had given me, but I knew what it was. A silent, internal cry for help, from a listener who would never hear. An onlooker who could never see.

 _What kind of monster did you turn me into, Watts? And why?_


	18. The Velveteen Faunus Vol 2 Chapter 18

"Velvet. Where are the other two?" Kandase was leaned up against the wall, looking back to Velvet. She could tell that the all-too-familiar smirk on her friend's face was a telltale sign that she was once again fighting the urge to go off looking for the fight, rather than waiting for it to come to her. Velvet wished that there was something that she could say to assuage her friend, but experience taught her that no such combination of words existed. Instead, all Velvet could do was answer Kandase's question and hope that she succeeded in diverting her attention.

"They're coming. I saw them trailing behind just before I followed in after you. Don't worry."

"I never do." Kandase joked. Velvet let a smile cross her lips before she allowed her mind to come back to business.

"So how do you think we're going to find out if Ratel is here?"

"I have literally no idea." Kandase said with no trace of humor in her voice. "If we're being totally honest here, I kinda thought that you'd be the one to come up with something. Either that, or we'd just hope to get lucky."

It was then that a duo of people in familiar attire on a street afar caught Velvet's eye. As Kandase was talking, she focused her attention on them, wondering if they were the instance of luck that Velvet was talking about, or something far worse. "I think I found something. Those two." Velvet pointed them out to Kandase just as the pair of women, identical to the holographic ones outside whom Velvet had thought she'd seen die, rounded a corner and traveled out of sight. They both each carried a rifle and had a saber strapped to their hips, as well as a pistol tucked into their belts. It was eerily similar to the style in which the Atlesian military held their gear. Velvet saw no reason to dwell on this, and decided not to out of fear that it would divert them from the bigger issue at hand, which involved them nonetheless. Kandase caught sight of them, and hummed eagerly. "Hello, Beautifuls."

"It's a given that they'll lead us to wherever here Ratel is holed up. Makes our job a whole lot easier." Velvet observed, rising to tail the other based on the sound of their crunching in the dirt, which took no small amount of concentration to focus on. She was stopped only by the sensation of Kandase's hand on her wrist.

"Easy, there, V. You're forgetting one little thing. We're down half our team. What should we do? It's your call."

Velvet mulled it over, just until the sound of footsteps in the distance became faint. She knew that there were two options, each with an equal payoff and risk. The first being waiting on the rest of the team to rendezvous with Kandase and herself, risking being spotted by the criminal element around and losing a chance to get at Ratel. The second option meant going on without Dew and Ceril, which would give Velvet and Kandase a better chance of catching their foe by surprise. The obvious downside being that they could be walking into a trap that would leave them totally outnumbered by an army of Ratel's goons. Velvet didn't like the odds of either, but she knew which of them would yield far better results in the larger picture, although she didn't particularly agree with it. She turned to Kandase. "We're going after Ratel. We'll leave a marker somewhere, somehow for the other two to find us. I'm not quite sure yet. This is a small community, so it shouldn't take them too long to catch up. They weren't that far behind when I passed in the threshold after you. Patrols here seem thin, so it should be fairly simple."

"Well, that's all good and dandy, sweetheart, but you're forgetting that Ratel chick isn't the only one who likes to crash here." A raspy female voice announced from above them. Velvet and Kandase both assumed their battle positions and found the woman who had addressed the flaw in their plan.

Her hair was a stringy brown, bangs covering her eyes and the rest reaching down to the small of her back in separated curls. There were deep scars along her bare arms and abdomen, her chest covered by a green brassiere that was worn and frayed at the edges. Her brassiere was covered by a brown leather vest, giving way to a pair of denim shorts that, in turn, overlapped a pair of black leggings. On her feet, were jewel-studded sandals made of golden material. "You think that Ratel is the only one who has a pad here, kid? You two have a lot to learn about this hidden paradise. Maybe I can teach you!" She hopped off of the roof of the building, and landed 3 meters from the pair of Huntresses. Velvet watched as a sneer curled over the gang boss's mouth. "Let's make this easy on all of us. You take off all of your valuables, not put up a fight, and we'll make sure you two go quick. Perhaps a little bit of begging would persuade me to let you leave alive." She looked down at her long, purple acrylic nails and blew on them as she talked.

"Did you say, 'us'?" Velvet asked, more annoyed than afraid of this new adversary.

"Whoa, hold it. Who are you? I mean, you didn't exactly go that into depth about that particular detail." Kandase cut off Velvet and the other woman alike, attracting a groan. "Alright, shut up. One question at a time here, then I take your crap and maybe kill you. Depends on the mood that you leave me in. My name's Mar Roan. And to answer your question, little one," She pointed to Velvet, not an ounce of humor in her voice. "'Us', pertains to them." She swung her finger in a wide arc around her to reveal, initially, nothing. Then, as the tension was reaching its breaking point, a dozen ambiguous people, wrapped in layers of brown wraps with tinted goggles covering what little part of their faces weren't concealed by the beige scarves that were wrapped around their mouths. The only thing that Velvet could make out on the lot of them were what color their noses were. All of them donned coutilliers, much like the people Velvet had encountered in the bar during one of her first violent encounters in Vacuo.

"What do you think, Velvet? I can probably take half, and you take the other? Then we can both go up against big boss there?"

It was relieving for Velvet to see that Kandase was not wavering in the face of such weighted odds against them. It gave her an added boost of confidence to the strength that she could already feel swelling through her. She couldn't help but smile at her friend's enthusiasm. She looked over and watched as Kandase popped her knuckles and her neck. "Alright, Team Leader." She said with a bouncy tone that Velvet had come to associate with her. "On your count."

"Wait." Velvet whispered as the gang boss Mar ordered them once again to drop their equipment and promised that there would not be a time after that. "Shouldn't we make a plan or something?"

"What's there to plan? It's a fight. Just punch and kick the other person until they stop punching and kicking." Kandase chortled at her own humor, and Velvet could only counter with a "Good point. In three."

"One." Velvet started.

"Two." Kandase joined.

"Hey! What are you two doing? I said--" Mar began to shout.

"Three--" The two began, but were stunned silent as they caught sight of a large gust of wind blowing all of their enemies into all of the buildings to their immediate left.

"What the--What was that?" Kandase shouted, throwing her hands up in the air in disappointment.

"Dew found us." Was all that Velvet could say. Kandase turned to Velvet, a look of incredulity to her.

"What? So, your little friend has three powers?"

"Erm, no." Velvet corrected, holding up two fingers on one of her hands. "She has two."

"No, no. It's three. She can manipulate time and all that, she can control wind with, I'm guessing, that weird stick of hers? And finally, she has a very big talent for killing my buzz." In haste, Kandase slammed her armored fist into the building that they were leaning against just minutes earlier.

"Kandase! Easy." Velvet tried to calm her friend in vain.

"Calm down, Velvet. It's not like anyone except the scum of the world live here. Me and Ceril ran into another gang that I didn't even know existed on our way over here. That's why we took so long." A familiar voice called, a prelude to Velvet's eyes meeting Dew's as she casually walked over with her staff cradled over her shoulders, rifle-toting Ceril in tow.

"Nothing around here but criminals. Reminds me of home."

"That makes two of us." Dew replied to Ceril under her breath with a sigh.

"Thanks a lot, Dew." Kandase called out with no sign of gratitude, something that Dew picked up,

"Thanks for saving your butts? Oh, the pleasure is all mine. Really." Dew spat out.

"You know what, kid?" Kandase began.

"Ok! If anyone else hasn't noticed, this isn't exact;y the most optimal place for a dispute. Let's just get through what we need to, alive, then we can all argue and bicker as we celebrate doing the right thing."

"Velvet's right. It's not the time nor the place." Ceril said with an odd voice of assertion.

"Oh, shut it, Ceril." Dew said with a sigh.

"Why?" Ceril shot back, catching Dew off-guard.

"Well--because--Because I have nothing else to say."

"Well, well. Ceril's growing up, huh?" Kandase said, walking over and slapping her large hand over his shoulder. Almost as quick as it happened, he called out to Velvet, to whom he walked, ignoring a surprised Kandase.

"What's going on, Ceril?" Velvet asked once he was in earshot.

"We found something. I think I found where my sis--where Ratel is." Velvet pretended not to notice Ceril's slip of the tongue, and answered with, "What makes you say that?"

"We saw her, or, we think we did. Dew pointed her out, and used my scope to confirm it. I don't know what she looks like, so it's only on her word."

"Well, let's see what she has to say." Velvet looked to ask Dew, but apparently, Kandase had already extracted an answer out of her.

"Velvet. She's here. How are we going to handle this?"

"Bust the bitch's door down and drag her kicking and screaming." Dew suggested, arms crossed and her eyes at her feet. Kandase said nothing, only rolling her eyes.

"Good, but perhaps we could stand to actually have a plan."

Kandase shot her head up, eyes wide and a wild grin over her. "I think Dew here was onto something."

"I was?"

"She was?" Ceril chimed in.

"What are you thinking, Kandase?"

"Well," She withdrew one of her explosive throwing knives, and flipped it nonchalantly between the spaces of her fingers. "I don't suppose she's going to have shelled out the money for reinforced doors on a crappy place like all the ones here. My guess is that it's wood. Wood burns, explodes, even. I say we do the polite thing and, once we find Ratel's crash pad, knock on her door--with a bang."

The idea of such a dramatic and distracting entrance into her enemy's home enticed not only the tactician in Velvet, but also the teenager that had a secret love for such moments of heroics, as much as she repressed those emotions. "I like it. It'll give us the element of surprise."

"How will it do that?" Ceril and Dew said in unison, exchanging an awkward glance immediately after.

Velvet shrugged. "Because they'll be surprised?"

Kandase laughed, scoping the area around them for any spies, most likely. "On top of that, they'll be so surprised, that they won't have time to mobilize in the time it takes us to slip inside and do what we need to and take who we need to. Plus, I think some of us are long overdue for some stress relief on these goons, so we can take advantage of them that way, too. That sound about, right, Velvet?"

"That does, indeed. Any objections from you two?"

"None. Kandase is right. I've got a bone to pick with these jerks." Ceril said sternly.

"As do I."

A smirk came to Velvet's face. She could feel that Honey Ratel's hour of retribution was at hand. "Then what are we waiting for?"


	19. The Velveteen Faunus Vol 2 Chapter 19

"Miss Ratel, there's someone who triggered the silent alarm that we set up at the other end." Yae had called out to me while I was in a room that I had deemed my office space, with a bowl of ramen and a travel size of my special sauce. I never traveled without the means and the resources to give myself the perfect lunch. I'm a high-class kinda revolutionary. Heh.

"Well, that just means one of our lovely...associates are in town. Why should that concern me?" I said, trying my best to keep my bile in check with the mentioning of the company I force myself to keep to obtain my goals.

"I took the liberty of sending out a patrol."

This act of independence struck me as odd for Yae, who, it seemed like, always hung on my every word. I didn't feel any anger, though, but...I was surprised nonetheless. I turned to Yae. "Well, who was it then?" I asked with all of my curiosity beaming. What she said next had the potentially ruin or make my day.

"It was the Rabbit-eared Faunus that you told me about. And the other girl who I saw myself when I was performing routine maintenance on the other side of the manor. The girl with the staff that could manipulate air. They're at the edge of the city, on the opposite end, and they've appeared to add two more to their party."

"Any of them look familiar to you? Or much of a threat?" I asked, leaning against the table I was eating over, clasping its worn wooden edges with my fingers. I don't know what my deal is with acquiring old furniture. Maybe it's because I cringe less whenever I, say, throw a bad date into them to make things interesting, or stabbing it with something. Crap. I'm rambling again.

"I recognize the young bartender of that bar you often frequent. The shave-headed gentlemen who was always working the counter whenever we went. As for the other girl, I didn't recognize her. If I were to wager, I'd say that she is a foreigner."

"Now how did you guess that?" I asked with a cocked eyebrow.

"I have my ways." She said, with the rare hint of coyness. Not gonna lie to you, there were times when I loved this girl. I didn't let it show then, however, but was doubly excited that I would get to spar with Scarlatina. Now, I know that Watts warned me about her after I told him of her the first time we met, said that I should get rid of her before she becomes too much of a hindrance in our operations. Of course, I wasn't much for following the rules. When it came to her, I found our fights fun. Sure, during my bloodlusts, I went a little overboard, but for the most part, she was a very fun sparring partner...even if she didn't consider it so herself. "What do you suggest that we do, Miss Ratel?" She asked, that same doting personality upon her again.

"Well, that's simple. We wait for them to come."

Yae's face betrayed her thoughts, scrunching in uncertainty. "I mean, Miss Ratel, is there anything that you want us to do in order to prepare against their arrival? They most certainly are coming to do what they consider a 'rescue' to release the chil--test subjects."

I walked into the closet that was in the corner of the room, removing my favorite swiveling chair that I kept for occasions that required deep thought, and sat in it, the cushioning slowly contouring to the form of my backside and back. I leaned back, as I always did during times like this, and spun in a circle. Yae grunted impatiently, but knew better than to rush my thinking process. She was smart enough to know just where the leniency stopped between.

Alright, Ratel. So Scarlatina is bringing her little posse to answer for...what wat it? Some crime or another she or another convinced me that I did. Ohhhh, that's right. She's one of the naysayers to my experiment. Ya know, if I hadn't had told her any of what I was planning during our last little playdate, then she wouldn't have her panties in a wad over it. Huh, maybe you are a villain. You certainly do get off on monologuing. Heh. Wait! Focus. Okay, so what exactly should you do? Well, this place isn't quite as big as my other places, but, ya know, I think we could move all the equipment for the large experiment to the large conference room in the back of the place, AKA my personal dance floor. Damn, I can be a bit over-the-top. Well, that would work. Keep the subjects in two separate groups on either side of the house. I have the hunch that Scarlatina and her friends won't be too eager to running through this place with dozens of my guys about with guns and whatever else there is. Yeah. That could work. Obviously, they probably won't be able to hold the four of them off for long, but they should be able to do it, nonetheless. During that, we can herd the two groups by those tunnels under the house into the Conference Room. Once they're in there, if the conditions permit, then we can do our next experiment, with the new gaseous formula. If that fails, I can just say 'screw it' and inject them all. Afterwards, maybe I'll have time to get one more sparring match in with Scarlatina, unless something comes up that takes me out of the mood or somehow, she ends up dead. That'd be no fun.

Wait, you're getting off-topic again, damn it! Okay, should I even waste time putting up some sort of fortifications. Knowing those type, they'll just find a way to blow through them, anyway. No, no. If all my guys are dog-tired, then they won't be as good of punch-sponges, and they won't keep those four as busy as I need them to be for me to get everything in order. Okay, so perhaps I should focus all the force around the entrance to the two tunnels. I mean, it's not the most subtle thing ever, but it should work in, like defense, as well as throwing the lack of opposition as soon as they get in. That could prove to buy us some extra time, but I shouldn't bank on that.

I caught myself looking over to Yae, with her crossing my mind not too long afterwards.

What about her? Should I keep her by my side, protected? I have the sneaking suspicion she would like that, but at the same time, I think she would appreciate the chance to finally lead these idiots in something. Hmm. Maybe I should throw her a bone and give her a squad of men as a distraction for when they first come in. She's small and adorable, and even if things get too hairy, I know that these people are not the killing type.

"Yae. How would you like to be able to be a leader for once?"

Yae, clearly taken aback by the awesomeness of the offer I just gave her out of the blue, stammered for quite a bit before actually making a response that could be heard and understood by a human being. "I'm sorry, ma'am?"

I spun around in my chair before facing her again, scooping my bowl of ramen off the table and slurping it all in one go before replying. As I was eating, the room appeared to me as nothing more than a brown blur, as was the color of the entire house inside and out, considering I never took the time nor saw the sense in painting a place I hardly ever went to.

Stopping again, I rose up out of my chair, planting both of my hands on her shoulders, eliciting a look of surprise as she looked to both sides of her. It was like she couldn't believe that her boss was actually giving her physical contact. She looked to me again, staying silent still. "Look, I'm going to have my hands full with trying to get all of our experiment's parts ready. A lot of our guys will be busy with trying to make sure that our subjects are well looked after, so I need someone at the front to ensure that it isn't too easy for Scarlatina's crew to walk freely around the rest of this place. That sound like something that you're up for?"

"Of course, Miss Ratel. You know fully well that I would die for you, if the time called for it."

It always made me way afraid when people told me that. I mean, I'm sure that anyone would feel the same if you had people, most of which barely even know you, I might add, who were willing to lay down their lives solely on your say-so. I guess, for some, that kind of power would be humbling--but for me, it was just scary as crap. Of course, as usual, I didn't show it. Being in my position and showing any sign of weakness like that was a sure-fire way to get yourself killed. That was something that I couldn't risk, especially with as close as I was to getting what I'd wanted so much out of life, to give the people of Remnant the one thing that they truly needed to lead peaceful lives. It was the only way that we could survive; if we could speed the evolutionary process, manipulate it in our favor. It was the only way. "That's great to hear. if only I had a dozen people like you in the crew, we'd be unstoppable." I gave her aplomb, and I could tell that she loved to hear that type of thing from me. Many people, almost anyone, would be unable to tell just how close of an unspoken bond that Yae and I had shared with each other. To everyone else, Yae was nothing more than an expendable pawn, but that wasn't the case.

She was the one who reminded me that there was a bit of hope left in this world, and...oh, well, that's for my thoughts only. Anyway, I told her to take whoever she knew was at the villa (Yae knew almost all of them by name. She kept a very detailed list of all the members present.), a dozen of them, and guard the two curving stairways at the front of the house, as well as the two entrances in the center of that particular room to the innards of the building. I was blunt with her, telling her that she would likely fail, and that the true intent was to have her as a distraction. Yae was smart: she would have figured out what was going on eventually.

Based off of the reaction that she'd given me, I think she had already figured that out by this point. She told me, "I was already preparing for such a thing. They seemed like formidable opponents, and I'm sure that our members can put up a fight, but they would be hard-pressed to issue a swift defeat. I will do my best to lead them, ma'am. For you." _I'm too lucky to have her under my wing._

Well, it was incredibly reassuring for her to say that to me, but, once again, terrifying all the same. It was there that I decided to something that I hadn't done since my brother had died: I gave Yae a hug. Even while we were in total privacy, I could feel her get incredibly hot, her cheeks got about as rosy as her hair. She stammered, but didn't pull away. After several more seconds like this, I released her from my grip. My shoulder had caused her glasses to become askew, something that she quickly corrected as soon as we were separated. She took a deep breath, then said only, "I will return to you once the job is completed, or if it can't be anymore." And promptly walked out without another word. I took a deep breath, and called out a simple, "Hey.", giving her reason to return.

She stood in the doorway, hands behind her back in the proper fashion. "Yes, Ma'am?"

I unsheathed my saw and walked over, placing the handle in Yae's hand. After that, I reached into my pantline, removing the pistol that I had taken off of the woman earlier, whose name I did not nor care to know, and placed it in her other hand as well. "Do you still have your robe?"

"Yes, Miss Ratel."

"Make sure you don't forget that. An extra surprise for Scarlatina and her friends. Plus, you look good in it."

A smile from Yae. "Thank you, Miss Ratel."

With that, she promptly walked out of the room again, with no return after. I'll admit, I did feel a little naked with no weapon, but I knew that I would manage. My skills were honed enough to take the likes of Scarlatina and her little army that she'd assembled. I left the office, as well, making sure to collect my bowl as well as my sauce before leaving. I knew that this may be the last time that I'd be able to enjoy a meal or anything like that in this place, but that wasn't necessarily a bad thing. The only reason I cared for this particular place was it's being concealed away from the world, a place that I could conduct my research among people who just didn't give a damn to ask questions. If anything, Scarlatina would be doing me a favor if she destroyed this place when she finally did come around.

I walked down the hallway, to a room that contained a PA system that I'd had installed throughout the house, powered by some smuggled Dust hidden within the walls. I found another member of the gang in charge of running the system, a tan Faunus with white fauxhawk on his head and a lion's tail sticking out of the seat of his pants, as well as the hole in the wooden backing of the chair, his own back to me. He had on a pair of headphones that I not-so-gently removed from his ears, causing him to jerk around, nearly falling from his seat in the process. Initially looking a little peeved, he instantly took a calmer expression once he saw who he was about to unleash a slew of swears upon.

"Oh, hey, Boss. What did you need?"

I took the mic up from the table, looking down at him. "I need to make an announcement. I think you're gonna want to hear this, too." I nodded for him to begin the transmission, and watched as he turned the necessary dials, pushed the buttons needed, and nodded to me. I nodded back, licking my lips as I began to talk into the rounded, silver microphone with a black, plastic base. "Alright, folks. We're going to be holding a little reception here in just a few short minutes, as I'm sure a few of you know by now, because the gods know our scouts can't keep a secret. I'm going to need anyone who hasn't been called up to defend the entrance into the rest of the rooms and tunnels, and anyone I don't call upon myself, to guard the test subjects as well as the tunnels that they're going into. I have a good hunch that they're the precious cargo that our little friends are after.

"I'm not gonna lie, they're probably going to kick the tar out of quite a few of you, as some of your counterparts in Cleo and Petra can tell you. Make no mistake, these are some experienced fighters, who are not afraid to do what they have to in order to achieve their goals. I've got faith in you gals and girls, though. You'll be able to do what we set out to accomplish ourselves. Rest assured, if we all do our jobs, then you'll have the chance to see history being made, as well as being able to call yourselves a part of it. Just stick to your guns...or swords, in some of your cases, listen to your superiors, and we should come out of all this just fine. Got it? Good. Now, assume your battle stations, sailors. It's time to finish what we all set out to do, what some of us joined this gang here for in the first place. That'll be all."

I had the Faunus end the transmission, watching as his eyes turned back to me once the monologue was finished. "What exactly are we expecting to fight, Boss?" He asked, hesitation in his voice. I chuckled, feeling the need to break whatever uneasiness was about him.

"Now, now. You're not about to turn tail and run, are you?" I asked him with a smile, one that was admittedly more like a sneer. He frantically shook a head as an initial response.

"No, Boss. I'd rather die than do something as yellow as that! My Uncle Leo would do the same thing, and he's the greatest guy I know!" For the sake of the situation, I didn't have the heart to tell the kid I didn't give a damn about what his Uncle Leo would do. I needed all hands on deck, and it that meant keeping a little quieter to keep everyone happy enough to line up just to get knocked down, then so be it.

"Alright, then make your Uncle Leo proud, go out, and be the best criminal you can be. Meet up with whichever tunnel group looks the thinnest and get ready to fight. I'm assuming that's your dagger on the table there?" I asked, gesturing with a bow of the head to a smooth silver blade with a rubber handle that resembled more of a letter opener than a knife.

"Yes, Boss."

"Then take it, and do what you do best."

"What's the plan?" He asked, as if I didn't literally tell him just a couple minutes, and then again a few seconds before.

"It's like I told you and everyone else. We're having ourselves a party."


	20. The Velveteen Faunus Vol 2 Chapter 20

The pair of wooden doors, as Kandase had assumed it would, splintered into thousands of pieces in a brilliant explosion. All it had taken was a well-placed throw of one of her explosive throwing knives. She and Ceril took point as Velvet and Dew followed behind, weapons and fists at the ready.

The floor was lined with mahogany floorboards, a refined contrast to the primal motif that the rest of the room carried. There were two winding staircases, made of a cheaper wood that Kandase thought resembled the occasional thick trees that she had seen during her hunt for Velvet throughout the land of Sanus. At best, they looked rickety, as if someone with too much body mass (such as a bulky woman like herself) would go right through. The walls were of adobe, like the outside. It wasn't much of Kandase's taste, but she didn't focus too much on that, as other factors of the room caught her attention.

To her suprise, as she glanced up, she noticed that there was an ornate glass chandelier hanging by a string of jewels up above, something that caught Kandase off-guard.

 _What kind of chick is this Ratel, anyway?_

Once again, as she had anticipated, there were a dozen guards with blades and bullets at the ready, rushing through a doorway above. They stood up above along the balcony with a railing that was covered by what she thought was leftover planks from the construction of the floor upon which they stood. They were supported by thick, smooth tree trunks that appeared to have been buffed and sanded within an inch of their life. All she could focus on, however, were the new enemies that had presented themselves on a silver platter.

 _It's about damned time._ Kandase thought with a smirk.

She called out to Velvet, and crouched down with her hands over her head. The force of Velvet hopping onto her armored wrist guards and into the air pushed her down slightly, but not enough for her to rise back up amidst the gunfire that a large, circular shield that Velvet produced had blocked. Velvet began to wince, and Kandase knew that someone had to take action before they would all be killed. She activated her Aura, and crossed her fingers that they weren't using AP rounds in the unfortunate event that one of the gang members got a lucky shot off.

"Ceril! Time to spray and Pray! You got any ammo left for that rifle?" Kandase shouted.

"Yeah! More than enough! What are you planning?"

A chuckle from Kandase. "Just start shooting and enjoy the show."

With that, Kandase dashed out from her cover, instantly attracting the attention of the shooters from the balcony. They pointed thier rifles and began firing with aim that left much to be desired. Kandase easily dodged, (This is just like in the movies. Honestly, why do bad guys suck at shooting in situations like this? It's almost unbelievable. There's about a dozen of them up there, and not one of them can hit me?) leaping into the air and leaning forward. She calculated her descent, and arched her back, clamping her fists together as they neared the floor directly underneath the center of the balcony. Focusing her Aura on her hands, she thrust them into the wooden floor, splintering the hardwood and causing the support beams of the balcony above to shake.

As she had hoped, the structure above shook, but didn't fall. Kandase gave herself a pat on the back over learning to gauge her own strength for once. She heard the confused shouts and screams above her, and laughed uncontrollably as she imagined her foes above falling over each other. The gunfire stopped, as she'd expected, and Dew stepped out of the shield as Velvet dispelled it.

What in the name of the gods is she doing? Before she could command Dew to retreat, that everything was under control, she watched in shock as Dew used her Spear to throw out a large gust of wind, strong enough to compromise the integrity of the balcony.

 _Oh, damn,damn,damn._ Kandase frantically thought as she ran out from underneath the balcony. She didn't look back, but the rush of air and dust surronding her was a clear indication of what was going on behind her. Impulsively, Kandase dove forward, rolling on her side and stopping next to Velvet. She looked up at her friend with a beaming smile. "Well...that was a thing." Velvet smiled down at her, and reached her outstretched hand down to pick Kandase back up, a feat that took no small amount of force to accomplish.

As she rose, Kandase made sure to shoot a dirty look to Dew. "Well, thanks for making my little plan implode there, Dew."

"Hey, if you'd have let us in on your plan, then maybe i could have adapted to make sure that it worked!" Dew cried out, stretching out her arms as her face turned beet-red.

 _Crap, she's right._ Kandase admitted with much reservation. "Well, maybe I thought you'd have the foresight to know that we needed that balcony to get upstairs? What are you going to do? Fly up there?"

"Erm, Kandase?" Velvet leaned over and whispered into her ear, giving Kandase reason to grit her teeth in annoyance.

"Don't tell me..."

"Yeah, smart one!" Dew confirmed with a sneer and a tone of satisfaction.

"Okay, Okay. Don't get such a big about it." Kandase said, raising up a hand to silence Dew's inevitable gloating. "Let's hurry up and bring in this Ratel that seems to be all the rage (Quite literally, I take it.) and get out of here." A lone gunshot rang out, silencing everyone in the room as they looked to the other side of the room, where they caught sight of a ball of ice hidden among the wreckage. Slowly, it split into two, like a cocoon, both sides falling into the debris to reveal a petite young woman with a bob of pink curly hair, piercing red eyes, and what looked like a pink kimono with light blue accents swirling about it, a trend that Kandase had seen too many times before. "She has Dust infused in that robe of hers." Underneath were a pair of white jeans and a pair of black hiking boots around her feet. In one hand, she had a silver revolver with blue engravings that nearly matched the ones on her closed robe, and a short, black curved saw in the other.

"Does anyone have any idea who that is?" Ceril whispered, only to get three negative responses.

"None of you will harm Miss Ratel." Was the first thing that the small woman in front of them uttered, her voice as small as she was. Kandase could hardly take her seriously, wouldn't have been able to at all were it not for the deadly weapons possessed in each hand.

"You three go on. This lovely lady and I have a dance to attend." Kandase said, popping her knuckles, and thrusting her neck to and fro once in order to pop the bones in that area, as well.

"Are you sure, Kandase?" Velvet asked, concern present.

"Yeah. We can all take her." Ceril chimed in.

"We have more important things to do right now than argue. You three go on, find Ratel, and end this. I'll make sure that she won't be a problem for the rest of you. Now, go!" Kandase commanded.

Velvet nodded, and gripped Kandase's shoulder tightly. Kandase knew that Velvet had the impulse to hug her, and didn't try to oblige her, for they both were certain Kandase would come back, and that any kind of affection could be shown without the sight of the enemy lingering. She gave another nod, then instructed the others to follow her lead.

 _Damn, I trained her good._

The trio rushed past the strange girl with the saw and revolver. She raised her gun to Velvet, but Kandase performed a similar move that she did earlier, slamming her fist into the floor to send a shockwave towards her new enemy. "Oh, no, sweetheart. This one's just between you and me." Kandase rushed her, clasping her hands together and spinning in the air to gain momentum. Out of the corner of her eye, she watched as Dew created a small cyclone that lifted both herself and Ceril to the second floor. Velvet traveled alone through the doorway directly in front, climbing over the rubble to gain entry.

Just as Kandase was set to connect with the face of her opponent, a thick sheet of ice came between them. Her body stung as shards of ice exploded all around her immediately after contact. The force knocked Kandase back, causing her to skid on the balls of her feet as well as her fingertips until she stopped altogether. "Huh. Maybe this is going to be more fun than I thought. What's your name, kid?"

"Yae."

"Yeah, yeah, I'm excited, too. What's your name? I like to put a name to a face I go against. Well, the good ones, anyways."

A scowl. "My name is Yae, and I am no child."

"Ooooooh." Kandase chuckled, tipping her head up, but not taking her eyes off of the girl named Yae. Without warning, Kandase dashed, throwing a decoy punch to Yae's stomach that, as Kandase had counted on, the girl had strafed to avoid. Instantly after, she somersaulted backwards, Kandase watching as she was stopped only by hitting the debris from the staircase.

Staying light on her feet, Kandase walked over with her fists raised when Yae did not rise for several seconds. "You're not dead, are you? "Cause that would be a major dent in my conscien--Whoa, that's cold!" Kandase was interrupted. While she had the presence of mind to keep a fair distance from her fallen enemy, Kandase had neglected to account for the possibility that a trap was being set before her. As a result, she was nearly impaled by a spear of ice that Yae, upon rolling onto her back, seemed to produce with her hands out of thin air. Only by a leap and roll off to the side was she able to dodge the attack. The spear flew through the open doorway, shattering against a small shack across the street.

Kandase withdrew a throwing knife, and hurled it towards her adversary that had regained her footing with the space between her eyes being the intended target. Yae raised her revolver, took aim, and fired a single shot that took the knife off-course. It slammed into the wall to Kandase's left, causing the adobe to fly out in large, asymmetrical chunks.

Yae dove at Kandase, producing a large wall of ice behind her to springboard off of. She swung her saw in one hand and fired three more shots. Both attacks were blocked by Kandase's wrist guards, who realized now that she had been deceived by her opponent's small size. Kandase remained sure of her footing, taking care to avoid stepping on the various ice chunks that now lined the floor. Yae attempted to turn herself in midair to kick Kandase, but it was obvious enough for Kandase to react before the blow was dealt.

Kandase tightly clutched Yae's ankle and swung her up in the air with one hand, slaming her free fist into her abdomen. Yae coughed as the wind was knocked out of her, flying backwards. In haste, she aimed her pistol at Kandase's head and fired again. Kandase tipped her head, easily avoiding, but feeling the heat of the round as it sailed over her shoulder. "Easy, now. You only got one round left. I wouldn't want to see you waste it or anything." Kandase said with a chuckle as she watched Yae become panicked after opening her chamber to see that Kandase was correct. "Yeah, guns may not be my most favorite thing in the world, but I know how to count spent rounds. Maybe wanna try a different approach. Just saying."

"Shut up." Yae retorted in a quiet voice, giving Kandase the satisfaction of knowing that her mind games were paying off. As she had expected, the final bullet was expended in a wild shot that sailed over Kandase's head. She looked up above, then down as Yae started in a dead run towards Kandase, sending a swell of anticipation through her bones.

She raised her fists, and assumed her battle stance. She stood her ground as she watched her small opponent rear her arm back to swing her saw at Kandase's throat. When they were a meter from each other, Yae dove, swinging her saw in a wide arc with the empty revolver in the other. Kandase ducked under, arching her back to easily avoid the impending blade. She watched with curiosity as Yae pushed back the second hammer of her revolver just as the handle came mere centimeters from one another. She thrust it towards Kandase's abdomen just as a bayonet protruded from a slit in the base. Kandase took the blade off course just as it broke through the fabric of her shirt. The tip of the blade tore a thin line along her abdomen, exposing her navel and the skin around it. Just as Kandase landed a surprise punch against the cheekbone of her opponent for the sole intent of keeping her at bay, she called out: "Ya know, I liked the number of shirts that this shirt had before, but thanks!" Kandase produced three throwing knives from her pouches, tossing them in the air and catching them in the spaces of the fingers on her left hand. She shot a cocky smile to her opponent, confident that she would be able to finish the fight soon.

 _All I need to do is wait._

As Kandase had predicted just before it had happened, Yae rose from the ground, obviously weary from the several hits she had received over the course of the past few minutes. Kandase could hear her heavy breathing, obvious evidence that her Aura was nearing depletion. "What's the matter, honey? You tired?" Kandase teased, better trained in hiding her own fatigue.

"Honey is not my name. That moniker belongs to Miss Ratel, and her only."

 _Wait. Her boss's name is Honey? Lame. Wait, did someone tell me that before? I don't remember. Whatever._

"Well, if you're not tired, then why don't you make a move?" Kandase was banking that Yae would be tired mentally as well, and not totally think through such a disastrous course of action. To her surprise, this was not the case.

"I won't make such a hasty mistake. Even someone as dense as you should be able to see that such an action could never work."

Feeling a surge of annoyance, and the subsequent need to supress such self-destructive emotions that could spell disastrous in the heat of battle, Kandase took a deep breath. She said nothing, let Yae think that she had gotten in her head. She began walking towards Yae in a curved path, one that her opponent mimicked to avoid the inevitable confrontation. Without warning, Kandase began her manuever that she hoped would end the battle and allow her to provide assistance to her teammates. Yae, as she had anticipated, ran forward as well. Kandase hurled one of the knives in her hands at Yae's ankle. Too much momentum prevented Yae from avoiding, and she slammed into the ground when the knife striking her Aura threw her off balance. Kandase did not relent, throwing the other knives in rapid succession at Yae's fallen form. From where she stood, she was certain that she could see Yae's Aura flicker disappear.

Kandase backed several paces, then sprinted towards Yae, who struggled to rise. She jumped into the air, pulling back one of her legs while locking the other. She focused a large amount of Aura on her heel, and somersaulted. She calculated her descent, slamming her heel into the floorboards centimeters from Yae's feet. The force pushed Yae into the air, sending her body flying backwards into the adobe wall behind her. Triggering her concern and then her relief, Kandase could see Yae's face contort in pain, then relax as she lost conciousness, her midsection rising and falling a sure sign that she was still alive.

Turning to find a way into the further depths of Ratel's lair, she stopped, the hair on her neck standing on end as she felt a new prescence behind her. She turned to see a strange man who was two heads shorter than her, wearing a black, full-body cloak identical to the one donned by the girl they had encountered in the canyon. This one, she could tell, was a male, with ashy skin, and dark brown stubble around the lower portion of his face (The only visible portion at all. The rest was covered by a shadow cast by the hood of his cloak). Twice her age, and half of her physique, Kandase was not so much intimidated by this new figure as she was intrigued by his appearance. "Well, hello there. I don't suppose you're coming to pick up a couch, are you?" Kandase joked.

She more than felt a little sense in satisfaction at seeing a smirk crack at the corner of the stranger's mouth. It gave her reason to trust him, but in no way gave her the urge to let her guard down. Kandase was experienced enough to know that trust could always be misplaced, most often would be. "She said that you would have quite the sense of humor." He said, in a normal speaking voice, despite the several meters between the two of them. Kandase's hair stood on end at the mention of the word 'She' in such a manner. Her mind immediatley jumped to the conclusion that this figure must be a pawn of Salem, but she did not show it, lest she give the only other conscious person in the room any kind of advantage over her.

"And who might that be?" She asked the man, against all reason within her.

"Our Snow Queen, of course. The one true god, not shrouded in legend or afraid to walk amongst her creations. The one who has the means to bring salvation to us all, in a way that no mere mortal could possibly comprehend."

"I take it you're with Ratel?"

"The child with the streak in her hair? No. She's like me: she's a domino."

Kandase scrunched her face. The man was speaking in riddles, and riddles annoyed her. "A domino?"

"Yes. To the Snow Queen, her only purpose is to be sacrificed for a bigger purpose, to be set up in order to fall, to be part of a single chain that ends in a glorious conclusion."

"What kind of conclusion?"

"Not even I know. But, that reminds me. There is another domino to be set into place." Without any warning, he held out his wrist, extracting a thin purple blade from a slit in his vein. No blood protruded from the incision, but Kandase was disgusted nonetheless. Seeing the threat, she assumed her battle stance and extracted three standard throwing knives.

"What are you doing with that?" Kandase interrogated.

"Setting them up to fall." He reared his arm back, and hurled the thin spear. Kandase's eyes followed as it connected not with her, but into the abdomen of Yae. She cried out into the air, pained and grimacing. In the short time that Kandase took to look to her wounded enemy, the stranger who called himself 'Domino' snapped his fingers, sending Yae's form swirling into a purple mass, then disappearing altogether without a trace she was there to begin with.

Kandase turned back to Domino, rearing her fist back in retaliation for his attack on the helpless Yae. When she threw her fist, he did not move out to avoid the strike. Instead, at the last possible moment, Domino held a finger to his lips and made a shushing noise with the air in his mouth, simultaneously blowing out a flow of black and white flecks. Before Kandase could stop her momentum, the luminescent flecks that glowed in spite of the natural lighting grazed her fist, arm, and face, sending her body into a sudden paralysis. The only part of her body, she realized, that could be moved, were her eyes. She knew that Domino knew this as well, as he casually took two steps forward to lay his hand against Kandase's rounded cheek. As much as her repulsion made her want to flinch, she could do no such thing.

"Shh. Don't struggle. You'll only waste your energy." He leaned in, whispering into Kandase's ear. "Just listen, for that is all that you can do, until the paralysis wears off. I imagine you're wondering if I'm going to kill you. Well, you can rest easy. I'm not. It is not my place in the universe to end your brief life. That role has already been reserved for another. You, as is the case with your enemy that I have dispatched, are a pawn. Your place is to set the stage for the ending to all of this."

Kandase had never wanted to hit someone as badly as she did then. She struggled to move her fist, to break this trance, but nothing seemed to take effect.Oh, when I get my hands on this SOB, I swear...

"Oh, don't fret. No matter what would have transpired here, or even if you had stayed in Vale, you would have simply died, anyway. After all, that is the one given that they never tell you about being a Huntress. At least this way," Domino pulled away, and placed his hands on Kandase's shoulders. Once again, the urge to hit him surged. "Your death will have some sort of meaning. It is a shame, though. I'm sure a pretty girl such as yourself could have made a wonderful wife for me."

 _Oh, he did not just...what a sleaze!_

"Well, I'm afraid that I must take my leave now. I must say, it has been quite pleasurable watching you perform while I was in the shadows. I may just make a habit of that, seeing a woman such as yourself with so particular a skill set." He brushed the back of his hand against Kandase's cheek once more, for only a moment. "Until next time, my darling."

He tugged at the opening of his cloak, sending him into a spiral that looked similar to the one that the other girl they encountered had produced. The moment he disappeared, the paralysis on Kandase wore off. She cried out in rage, and swung her fist upward, hitting only air. She lost her footing, a rarity for her, and dropped to her knees. She clutched her chest and realized that her heart was racing. Upon closer inspection of her hands, she saw that they, too, were trembling. Her breath was shallow, fast, and she realized that there was an emotion lying within her, one that she had not felt in years: intimidation, and fear. This set off a rage within Kandase, not only at Domino, but at herself for allowing such a situation to take hold.

 _If I ever see him again, I'll kill him._

Kandase was ashamed to admit it, but for the second time in her life, she had felt totally helpless. For that, she felt a hatred most of all towards Domino, with some reserved to herself. Knowing that bigger matters were at hand, she rose up, and turned to where her teammates had gone. She knew that the fate of an entire kingdom took precedence over the birth of a new vendetta, but she vowed there that she would find the time and place to resolve both. With that, she ran into the depths of the house.


	21. The Velveteen Faunus Vol 2 Chapter 21

_"You know, you never did really tell me a whole lot about that sister of yours." Dew had made known to Ceril as they were moving to reunite with Velvet and her friend through the city that he had until recently believed to be dead. He hefted his rifle uneasily as she brought up such a topic, despite his making very clear with her that he was uncomfortable with discussing it. "Only times I recalled seeing her around was whenever you were working in that crappy bar. She was a busgirl, right? And the old owner would lie about her age to the authorities 'cause he liked having her around so much. Yeah, that's it, isn't it?"_ _Ceril sighed, looking up at the bright blue sky above, spotted with three clouds shared by the void above. He came to the resolution that Dew would not cease her discussion until she was provided the answers to the questions that, at present, swirled around her mind. "Not entirely."_

"C! What are you doing?! Start shooting or get dead! I'm not pulling you out of the muck again!" Dew broke Ceril's trance from the events that had transpired only hours before. He had almost forgetten that he and Dew were both pinned down behind crates, at opposite entrances to two long adobe hallways that met to form a 'U' shape. He took a deep breath, and focused on the bullets that were whizzing over his head. He popped his head over the crate, rifle in hand, and fired several bursts at his enemies on the other end of the hall. They ducked behind the walls, giving Ceril the chance to move up to another stack of crates that was resting several meters in front of him. Just as he reached the space behind this new cover, two identical gang members popped their weapons from behind the walls they hid behind, firing blindly. Ceril swore, ducking to the floor, waiting for the firing to stop.

A sudden feeling struck him that one of his adversaries was going to rush his hiding place and end the fight prematurely. With this hunch, Ceril withdrew the shotgun that was slung over his back, placing his rifle there in his stead. As the air grew silent, save for the sounds of Dew laying siege to the fortifications of her own opponents, Ceril could feel his hands begin to tremble. _That's my cue._

As he anticipated, he could hear a single set of footsteps advancing on his position. Just as this lone gangster was upon him, he stood erect, shotgun at the hip. Ceril could see instantly that the lone gangster, a young woman who appeared to be his junior ( _But it's not her. That must mean that they're using her for other purposes here, or somewhere else. Either way, I'm going to get to her, and there isn't a single one of these goons who's gonna stop me. Count on it, Ella. I'll see you again._ ) Ceril pulled the trigger, sending a powerful force of Dust pellets flying toward the midsection of his enemy's Aura. While he knew that it wouldn't be a fatal blow, Ceril was certain that it would be enough to make her lose conciousness, or at least hurt enough to lose the motivation to get back up and fight.

"Alright, jerks. You want me? Come and take me." Ceril shouted, a new sense of courage swelling through him. Fully aware of what he was asking for, he popped his neck, unbuttoned the holsters on both of his pistols and loosened the strap on his rifle so that it hung limp at his hip. He checked his ammunition, satisfied to see that he was full up on everything, and then some. He stepped out of his hiding place, standing in the center of the hallway to see his adversaries poking their heads out, hoping to catch a glance at what it was that their enemy was playing at. A smirk crossed Ceril's lips, the hand laying on the barrel of the shotgun reaching up to stroke the light stubble on his chin. "What's the matter? You decided to be conservative now? I'm standing right here." Ceril's courage was wearing off with every second that passed. While he tried extremely hard to sound like a firm, confident warrior, he still felt like a slanky Shade flunkee. Before the apprehension overtook him, One gangmember, armed with a machete, rushed Ceril. Feeling such a bold frontal assault coming, Ceril chuckled with superiority.

He flipped his shotgun in the air, catching it by the barrel with the hand that once held the trigger, holding the stock at eye-level. His other hand reared back, darting forward with enough velocity to turn the weapon into a flying projectile that slammed into the bridge of the gangmembers nose, sending him flying onto his back without a resounding thud. The shotgun flipped back like a boomerang into Ceril's waiting hands. The others, watching this scene transpire, decided to rush Ceril at once, just as he'd anticipated.

The first to reach him was a young girl, slightly older than his sister, with a pistol extended towards him. Whenever she was within arm's length, Ceril grabbed her gun arm with both of his hands and hurled her upwards to the ceiling that connected with her back. Her Aura pulsed, and she fell to the grounf behind him. Without haste, Ceril scooped up her pistol and pistol whipped the nearest member with the handle, sending them flying into another and landing on the ground.

Ceril let loose a barrage of gunfire from his shotgun, sending several more of Ratel's gangmembers flying to the ground, their Auras dealt a heavy blow. When his shotgun was empty, he clubbed two more enemies with his empty shotgun with one hand and raised his rifle up from his hip with the other. He pressed down on the trigger, letting loose another barrage of gunfire until the clip ran empty. To buy himself time, again, Ceril clubbed three enemies with his shotgun, booting another with so much force that they, too, fell to the ground.

There were so many faces, Ceril soon lost the ability to distinguish one of his opponents from another. Each one looked identical, as if they were not human at all, but some sort of ant colony, with their black-and-red clothing, black mirrored sunglasses. All he could think about was how he was going to knock the next one down, and then the one after, and the subsequent one. They were standing between him and Ella, and he would be damned if he was going to let them stop their reuiniting. In all this, though, Ceril let his mind wander back to the conversation that had transpired between himself and Dew.

 _"What do you mean 'Not Entirely'?"_ _"I mean that she wanted to help pay the bills, and get herself through combat school. Bad. She started doing a lot of things behind my back. Startled peddling illegal Dust for gangs like Ratel's, and some other little chores that I still don't know about. After a while, there got to be some dues that Ella couldn't pay just by doing some odd jobs. That's when crap got bad. That Ratel woman's gang came along in the dark of night, slipped her away and tried slitting my throat in my sleep. You know I'm a light sleeper, so obviously that didn't go over well. Of course, even if I took one of them, they still managed to nab Ella. I haven't told Velvet any of this, and she doesn't need to know. I can't shake the feeling that her and that other hottie friend of hers aren't exactly telling us everything about what we're getting ourselves into."_ _"Okay, firstly, you probably shouldn't call that...Kandase girl a 'hottie' in front of me for your own good. Second, I know what you mean. Ever since I met Velvet, I've had to all but use a crowbar to get to her give me any info. As for her friend, I don't trust her at all, so I'm not even going to try to get anything out of her. But, if we're going to survive whatever this is, we need only trust them in a fight. After all, this is starting to seem like more of a point-shoot operation anyway. They point, and we all go a-shooting."_

Ceril had only just realized that all but a handful of those who stood in his way were incapacitated. The narrow hallway had gained a small mound of unconcious gangmembers, with the remaining ones at the back climbing over thier forms to get at Ceril. His rifle and shotgun almost completely depleted of ammunition, He tossed his two pistols in the air. Per a special modification that he had made to them, Ceril flipped a switch next to the safety just as they were going in the air. Immediately after, Ceril ducked behind the crate that had sheltered him initially as the shooting started.

Ceril covered his head, and counted to three, the time it usually took for his pistols to rise and fall to the floor. In that time, several gunshots rang out through the air, faint clicking from the guns a signal that the attack was complete. When he arose again, Ceril was pleased to see that anyone who was coming to attack was neutralized, but still alive, thanks to what was left of thier Aura. He was no killer, but he would not have seen the harm if the situation had taken a darker turn, anyway. After all, he did not share the same views as Velvet did on the subject, and he felt himself wise enough to know that there was a time and a place when bloodshed was unavoidable.

There was little doubt in his mind that such strong convictions from his partner (Ceril refused to consider himself as a subordinate to Velvet.) came from a relatively easy life in Vale's borders, with no death or destruction to speak of, save for the Fall of Beacon. Velvet had surely not seen as much despair, felt as much pain, as he had during his youth in Vacuo. He was certain that ,soon, she would spill her first blood soon, and abandon such childish ideals.)

Without the darkness, light cannot find a place to shine. She's never taken a life, so she has no way of realizing that. By the time that Ceril would realize the error in his assessment of Velvet, it would be too late for him to save himself. His arrogance, his ignorant state and narrow-mindedness would eventually prove to be the final seal in his proverbial tomb.

His gazing over the scene of violence was interrupted by the stroke of a palm on his shoulder. Startled, Ceril turned on his heels, pistols in hand, and placed the end of one in the face of Dew. With a look of shock, then passive irritation, Dew clutched the gun with a single hand that wasn't holding her spear, yanking it out of Ceril's hand with ease. "You know the rule. Don't point a gun if--"

"Yeah, yeah. You all finished here?"

"I am. I'd ask the same, but all the knocked out goons answered that before I could even open my mouth."

"What happened with you? Anything interesting?"

Dew became flush, chuckling under her breath. "Well...since you asked..."

The sounds of faint cries for help caught hold of Ceril's ears, however, and he shot up an open hand to silence Dew. She let out a stifled gasp of annoyance, paired with a rude name, but he ignored it. There was no way that he could have explained hearing it, but he did nonethless. He was sure that her voice hit his ears. He reloaded all of his weapons in a haste, despite the fact that he had almost no ammunition to speak of. "What's your problem, Ceril?" Dew asked, arms crossed with spear tucked in the crook of her arm.

"It's her. Ella's here."


	22. The Velveteen Faunus Volume 2, Chap 22

Velvet, to her surprise, walked through a doorway that led to a stairway of marble. She followed the descending white-and-black steps until they ended at another entrance. She was introduced, then, to a tunnel that was far more primitive to the other additions to the dilapidated home above.

It was a dirt tunnel, cast in pitch-black. Velvet's night-vision was enabled, and she was able to see that the long, yet narrow tunnel was supported with worn beams of what looked to be wood that was beginning to succumb to the pressures of supporting the tunnel's roof.

 _I suppose it'd be a wise idea to make my visit here brief._

Although, from what she could see, the tunnel's end was nowhere in sight, Velvet sought to explore and see if she would be able to find Ratel in the entrails of the home, or something else that would come to help her in stopping all of the dastardly things that her enemy had planned. She crept forward, running her hand along the dirt wall for no reason other than to ensure that she stayed within arm's distance in the event that she needed to hug the wall to avoid an enemy that she could not best. She'd done this for long enough of a time to know that there was no sense in expending all of her energy on a menial task and having none for the main goal.

There appeared to be no openings in the walls of the tunnel, which gave Velvet reason to wonder what the advantage could possibly be, other than having a possible getaway.

 _But there's no places to hide if someone manages to follow you down here. There's no tactical advantage if you're in the open the entire time that you're running. I don't understand it._

Just as she was beginning, again, to ponder the sanity and intelligence of Honey Ratel, she suddenly found the appeal. As she was walking, Velvet brushed her hand along what she thought was a root to a breed of plant. Some sort of feeling, one that she never would be able to explain, even years later, told her that it would be wise to take a second look at the supposed root. She realized then that it wasn't a root at all.

 _It's a rope? A drawstring. But to what?_

Velvet, in a haste, tugged on the rope to see what would transpire. A dark, rectangular incision into the dirt wall made itself visible just before a door of wood swung open almost faster than Velvet could move out of the way. The frame, as well as the entire front side of the door, was bathed in a lining of dried mud that blended in perfectly with the surrounding tunnel wall. "How could this even be structurally possible?" Velvet inspected the small space, as well as the area where the door was fastened. It was a thin band of steel with the ends arched, stabbed into pockets of earth in the corresponding areas. Near them were four bolts, two on either side of the bar, holding a door hinge that, in turn, held the door in place.

Inside the small, cramped room that was nothing more than another hole in the ground, no rennovations to speak of. Huh. I suppose Ratel didn't have time to fix up everything. All there was inside was a single thin, black railway on the ground that ran to the back of the room, curving out to the part of the tunnel that Velvet had not explored yet. As she turned to follow the thin piece of metal, a sheet of white paper with scratched black ink on the wall next to the doorframe caught her attention. She leaned in, and read the poor writing with no small amount of difficulty.

 _Yo, Dingus. Don't leave the door open too long. Unless you wanna get caved in and die a horrible death, of course!_ These beams and supports aren't as strong as they used to be.

Velvet swore under her breath and quickly exited the room, shutting the door quietly, yet swiftly to avoid any unwanted noises. She waited, wondering if she had acted too late. After a full minute of waiting to see if the tunnel would collapse above her. When no such tragedy took place, Velvet continued on, now determined to sniff out the destination of the railway in the center of the narrow tunnel. As she followed, she found three other extensions of the rails, seeming to come out of the dirt themselves. Each one Velvet opened, finding a small space exactly like the others, nothing to speak of aside from a railway.

For what seemed like hours to Velvet, she followed the rail, curious that there no other secret rooms with railways. She hypothesized that the rooms she found were meant to be some sort of storage rooms for Ratel to summon at the push of a button.

 _Ramen and her blood sauce, I'd wager._ Velvet chuckled, being the only one who knew of her quip.

After a time, Velvet was able to make out what was another set of stairs, leading upwards, but lacking light, just as her current location did. She did not relent, however, and continued on, admittedly faster than before, as the anticipation built up within her to finally have a chance to end this tortuous game of cat-and-mouse that she had become entangled in with Ratel. Finally, the trail of destruction and loss would cease.

 _Now, now. I don't believe that it was entirely her fault. In fact, I can't seem to recall very many instances where this Ratel woman caused destruction. It seems to me that causing pain is your specialty. I would certainly know._ Velvet did not flinch, for this was, although rare, not a surprising occurrence to hear the voice of her deceased false friend Hansel. It had not happened since she was in Vale, and she had allowed herself to fall into a sense of false security, thinking that she had moved beyond the subconcious guilt that laid dormant in the shadows.

"You're not here, Hansel. You're dead. I--" Velvet stopped herself before she could utter the ending to the sentence, but she could not escape the true archenemy that she had found within the fabric of her own mind.

 _Come now, Velvet. Finish it. Relive that moment. The look on my face as a blade--your blade, ran me through. Remind me, Velvet. Did my blood spray onto you?_

"Shut up, Shut up, Shut up," Velvet muttered violently under her breath, losing her foothold on the battlefield for her own sanity. Although the form of Hansel known only to her persisted in his psychological torture, Velvet continued on to reach the entrance of the other stairway. From there, Velvet noticed that the ending of the hallway split off into two seperate hallways that jutted off in different directions, each one opposite from the other, the railways jutted along the centers of the floor. Velvet knew she did not have time to investigate, but felt oddly certain that the answers would come all their own in time.

With a deep breath, she pressed the ball of her foot down on the first step of the ascending stairway. Once again, Velvet took to hugging the wall to make herself a harder target should anyone try to peer down with a rifle or Ratel herself decide to make an appearance. There was something, again, that told her this, too, come to pass. In the several minutes it had taken her to traverse the half-kilometer of steps, Velvet was surprised that she had not come to encounter a single guard or hidden traps. Velvet was experienced enough to know that this was too easy, and that there was likely something nasty waiting for her through the luminescence.

As soon as her foot hit the threshold of the top of the stairs, she heard a familiar voice call from her immediate right. It caused her to jump and swear in her head, to Hansel's scorning. "Hello there. I was wondering when you'd show up."

There was little time for Velvet to react before she felt Honey Ratel's foot slam into her kidneys and send her flying through the wall directly in front of her. Having activated her Aura beforehand, the only thing that was really inflicted upon Velvet was soreness that even the most protected individual would feel after being thrown through a stucco wall. Her side connected with the floor of what she would quickly realize was some sort of ballroom with a similar theme to the rest of the house, a blur as Velvet rolled along the concrete floor under her.

She slammed her fist into the floor to stop the involuntary motion of her body, swftly rising to her feet and assuming her battle stance. Her vision quickly locked upon Ratel, carefully manuevering the Velvet-sized hole that had found a place in her home. Like a child ambling over a chain-link fence, she showed no urgency in reaching the other room. This served to aggravate Velvet, who, despite still recovering from the pain of the brutal initial attack dealt upon her, sprinted hastily towards Ratel, almost tripping over a rail that stretched from one side of the room to the other, leading into brown curtains that resembled potato sacks.

A sigh passed over Ratel's lips as her back was turned, turning slowly to meet Velvet's advance. Velvet, when she was nearing striking distance, leapt in the air, flipping backwards in order to gain the momentum to chin-kick Ratel. Although she half-expected it, Ratel flash-stepped away, giving Velvet nothing more to strike than a section of wall next to the one she had just went through. Her back slammed into said wall, cracking it, and causing her to stick into it upside down for a half-second before she fell face-first into the floor.

A chuckle from Ratel, who was slowly walking to the prone Velvet, each step with purpose and confidence. Velvet felt confident herself, for Ratel gave no indication that she had caught onto the trap that she had set. On a night in the desert, Dew had made good on her promise of showing Velvet the basics of countering time-manipulation. She was able to tell the signs of when certain abilities were being enacted, and how one could counter said abilities. "Ya know, I got to say that I'm surprised you're still trying. You can't best my technique. You can't beat me, no matter how much you 'believe in yourself' or whatever hero crap you try to put down your gizzard during your training. I'm just better. That being the case, it's getting really tiresome holding back just so you can be a pain in my ass at some other date. I'm thinking it would be more pragmatic to simply kill you here and now, rather than have you wrecking my crap and screwing with my operations, simply because it contradicts your own unattainable views of justice, or it doesn't fall in line with your narrow beliefs. I didn't see it before, because I really like you, but, Velvet," Ratel was directly over Velvet now, just where she wanted her to be, and leaned over her with a sneer. "Has anyone ever told you you're an intolerant bitch?" She raised the heel of her stilletto to impale Velvet, just as she had planned.

Velvet, as Dew had taught her, heard a distinct popping noise just prior to Ratel attempting to use flash-step to get the drop on her and deliver a seemingly unavoidable blow. She wrapped her hands around Ratel's ankle, throwing her to the other end of the massive ballroom. Ratel did not take long to regain her footing, wiping a bit of spittle from the corner of her mouth, hunched. "Ah. I see that that little trick of mine won't work anymore. Well, that's no problem. I don't need it to end you."

Just as they were beginning to speed towards each other again, a bright violet light caught both of them unawares. In unison, they both stopped to stare at the crumpled form of a young girl, Velvet's senior, she could tell, fall to the ground, face covered with pink curls. A large pool of blood began to fill the space underneath her, attracting a look of terror from Ratel, who unhesitantly crouched down by her side and pushed into a sitting position, Ratel's arms being the support. "Yae. Yae, what happened?" Ratel asked quietly, shakily, ignoring the fact that Velvet was mere meters away.

A small trickle of blood began to run from the edge of the girl named Yae's mouth, dripping onto her bloodstained kimono. There, she watched as Ratel ran the hand that was supporting Yae's back over her stomach, where a large stab wound claimed dominance. The sight sent images of years past flashing through Velvet's mind, of the unspeakable crime that she herself had committed as a result of an inability to control her own powers. For this, she could not rush to the aid of her enemy, and the friend of her enemy. She was powerless to stop the inevitable stream of death that she always seemed to bear witness to.

 _Powerless? This is all happening because of you. Your mere prescence likely has a hand in this girl's death. And are you doing anything to prevent it? No. You're standing here, thinking and moping. You truly are disgusting. Now I'm hoping that someone around here has the good sense to run you through._

 _We're not that lucky._ Velvet responded to Hansel.

"Ms. Ratel. It--I--" Yae was interrupted by the passage of blood out of her body in the form of a cough. "She--She tried--"

"Who tried what? What did she try? Was it a she that hurt you?"

"No. Not she--" Before she could complete her thought, she began to lose conciousness. Ratel frantically looked back to Velvet, pleading for her assistance, but Velvet could only stand and watch. Before the situation could escalate, she heard the voices of her friends behind her, calling in unison. She was unable to look away from the scene unfolding, however, not seeing her teammates until they were by her side.

"This is her, isn't it?" Dew asked through gritted teeth, aiming her spear tip towards Ratel, who only glared back in response.

"You're damn right, it is. I say we kill her, here and now. End all of this BS." Ceril declared.

"You're monsters. All of you. My--my friend. She's dying before your eyes, and all you care about is your own desires of revenge, twisted senses of justice. Well, my soul is intact. I'm going to save my friend. You jerks want to save people? You want to save your families, be heroes? Go the hell ahead." Ratel set all of the team on edge by pulling out a black remote from her pocket. Putting her eyes back on Yae, she pressed the red button in the center of the remote, setting off a reaction that filled the room with the sound of gears whirring behind the walls.

She rose, cradling Yae in her arms. She turned to walk towards the opposite end of the ballroom at a brisk pace, stopping only when Velvet called out to her. What Velvet said next was to Ratel's back, for she refused to turn. "You know we can't let you go."

"What are you going to do, stop me? You want to end this. So do I. You know where I'm going, Scarlatina. You've known since the beginning. I'm going to finish all of this, one way or another, and I'll be damned if I let you and your childish naivity get into the way." With that, she jogged off, through a secret door that looked similar to the ones Velvet had found in the tunnels.

"We're not going to follow her?" Kandase queried.

"She can be tracked. It's like she said, I know exactly where she's going. For now, we need to find out what it was that she set in motion here." As if scripted, two lines of children were wheeled out from behind the curtains on either side of the room, hands cuffed to motors on the railway, knees padded as they were dragged along to the center of the room. Over their faces were modified masks, attached to a hose that was connected to a cansiter of a black substance that was fitted with several bits of machinery Velvet could not hope to understand.

"Ella!" Velvet heard Ceril shout at the top of his lungs, rushing over to one of the children that bore striking resemblance to himself. He wrapped his arms around her for only a moment before taking a closer look at the apparatus that was a clear and present danger, in Velvet's eyes, any way. He furiously attempted to release the harnessed that kept the mask around his sister's and all of the other children's mouths, but to no avail.

Velvet and the other two rushed to the aid of others, trying every feasible approach that would usually alleviate the troublesome situation. However, for reasons beyond Velvet's comprehension, nothing they did succeeded in freeing the children from their bondage.

"Wait. What if we just separate the canisters, or empty them out? Whatever's in there can't be any good, so taking that out of the equation could buy us some more--" Kandase began, but was cut off when the sound of hissing began to accompany the sound of whirring gears. It did not take Velvet long to realize that the noise was coming from the cansiters fitted to each student's back: the black substance was evaporating, and flowing through the tubes into the masks over each mouth.

Despite Velvet's pleas, the kidnapped students began to panic as they felt the gaseous substance over their faces. Most of them hyperventilated, accellerating the effects. This sent Velvet into a panic herself, as she and her team tried even the most drastic measures to rescue the innocents. Ceril took to firing potshots at the tubes and canisters. Velvet summoned every weapon in her arsenal, attempting to cut through the material of the tubing. Kandase tightly gripped one of her throwing knives, futilly stabbing into each canister, hoping for a different result with each identical scenario. Dew tried a similar approach with her spear, as well as using her Semblance in an attempt to blow the canisters off of the backs of each children. During all of this, however, Velvet couldn't help but realize that Ceril was focusing all of his energy on trying to save his sister.

 _I can't say that I blame him. If that were Mother or Jacob there, I'd be doing the exact same thing._

It was all for naught, however. The gas passed through the lungs of all of the children, setting in motion a process similar to the one that she forced herself to witness on the video camera in the desert. Velvet looked away, tightly closing her eyes that were beginning to well with tears. It was painful to hear the sound of a sobbing Ceril screeching out, begging for the gods to spare his sister, hearing him struggling to manually remove the mask from his sister's face.

She had convinced herself that she was to blame for the tragedy taking place, that even more blood was on her hands, along with the inevitable fact that she would have to put these young Huntsmen and Huntresses out of their misery. However, there were no living monsters to speak of in this instance, and she was grateful for that small bit of mercy that the universe had cast upon herself and her team, in spite of the terrible circumstances that had befallen them.

This was no time for celebration, however. Velvet wiped a tear from her eye as she gazed out upon the carnage, looking over to the sullen faces of her team, and the astonishingly blank face of Ceril, still cupping the face of his now-deceased sister. His face twitched, looking into her glazed eyes for a sign only he could have known about.

"We were too late. Not to mention, I didn't think Ratel would be so bold as to actually go through with all of this. it was almost exactly like the tape." Kandase leaned over and mumbled into Velvet's ear, not quiet enough to avoid the ears of Ceril and Dew. Both of them shot daggers towards Kandase and Velvet. Ceril stood and walked over, his face stone. "What did you just say?"

"We were too late." Kandase said, obviously dodging the true intent of the question posed.

"How could we be too late for something that we didn't know was going to happen?" Ceril asked rhetorically, his tone a clear indication he knew what had happened.

"Because the only ones who didn't know something was gonna happen was us, C. They played us for thier game."

Velvet, trying to keep the peace, stepped forward. "Now, look--" However, she was stopped when the back of Ceril's hand connected with her cheek.

"Hey!" Kandase squared herself against Ceril, who responded by putting the barrel of a pistol in-between her eyes.

"Shut up! Don't you try to play team leader, and you stay away from me. The one important person in my life, my reason for living, is dead, and it's all your fault! Both of you! Just--stay the fuck away!" Ceril slowly began backing away, murder in his eyes. "You claim to be heroes, and yet death follows wherever you go. That can't be a coincidence." He turned and sprinted out of the same door that Ratel had left with Yae, sobbing the entire way.

The three remaining members of the team eyed each other warily. Velvet did not have to hear a single word to know that Dew would be the next to walk out. Even though it was a long shot, Velvet tried to make amends to the unmendable. "Dew..." she began. Dew shot up a hand, cradling her spear over her shoulders.

"Don't. Both of you can go and get whoever you want killed, but I won't be a part of it. You two can piss off. I'm--" Dew looked away from them, to the same way that Ceril had exited. When she began moving in that direction, she looked to Velvet and Kandase once more, turning to exit the other direction. "I'm done. Later, bitches." She walked out of the ballroom, with no resistance from either of the remaining members of Velvet's team.

"Why do we fight, Velvet?" Kandase asked after a full minute of silence.

"What?" Was all that Velvet could reply, confused.

All Kandase did was shake her head. "Nothing. We need to go. This is no time to mourn the dead, be it on the inside or outside. We can't be selfish and forget that this is much bigger than our own personal trials." Her head was bowed, a rarity for Velvet's friend.

"But what about--"

"Velvet. They made their choices. We can't chase after them and let any more people die. I'll be sure to call some of Qrow's old contacts here to can take care of these people, but we both know she's not going to stop here. You said you know where Ratel's going? Well, take us there so we can end this. We can make sure that these peoples' murders don't go unpunished. Where is she going?"

Velvet was still frozen in place. _These people are dead because of me. Because I wasn't strong enough, or quick enough. I am thier murderer._

"Velvet! Where is Ratel going?" Kandase asked, a bite to her voice.

"To the place that they came from," Velvet gestured to the dead. "She's going to Shade."


	23. The Velveteen Faunus Volume 2 Chap 23

"Miss Ratel?" I heard Yae mumble under her breath as we bounced along the unpaved path through the sand that (I honestly don't know how the driver knew where it was. Maybe he was just that good.) Her eyes were glistening, but not in the usual way. This time, they were welling with tears. Without really thinking about it, I put my hand against her cheek (making sure no one else saw of course. There were four of us currently in the black jeep that was kept specifically for my own use, and I would be damned if I let my subordinates see my moment of weakness.)

"Yeah? What's up?" I said, struggling to keep the illusion of normalcy afloat in the car. If there was anything that I had learned in my time pushing my gang to the top, it was that, if you didn't have the ability to strike fear into the hearts of your allies, then you damn well didn't have the skills necessary to do it with your enemies.

"I'm so sorry. I failed you."

"No, no. You did good. It's okay. You did a number on those bastards."

"No. Not that. I'm showing weakness." A small chuckle. "I'm showing that I'm hurt, I'm crying, Miss Ratel, and in front of you, no less."

"Really?" I said, playing along in the inside joke that Yae had let loose. Anything to take her mind off the fact that there was a hole in her gut that was just kept from overflowing by a hastily combined mass of bandaging, gauze, and tape.

"I'm quite ashamed." She said, the light tone leaving her voice to hint at a sincerity within.

"Don't be. It's alright to show pain, just this once. I think you've put up enough walls to give yourself a break. It'll be our little secret." I whispered, leaning close to her ear.

"Miss Ratel, you're making a mistake." She said very bluntly not two seconds after I retracted my head from her ear.

"Whoa, easy now." I began, taken aback by this sudden brashness. "I know what I said, but don't take advantage of it. Don't think that just 'cause you're...you know..." I glanced at her abdomen again, then back to her, trailing off at the stupidity of my own assertiveness. She could have been dying there, I realized, and I was trying to play up the machisma role. "Never mind. You just rest up, alright? We'll be in the capitol soon, and you can get some medical attention, the best this craphole has to offer."

"Miss Ratel." In another bold move, Yae moved her finger up to my mouth and silenced me. My eyes locked on her finger and, had it been anyone else, they would only be able to count to nine afterwards. "You don't understand. There is something at play here. Your allies are not who you think they are, nor your enemies. This won't end how you think it will, and I beg you to reconsider your course of action."

"Listen, I know you're not in your right mind, and that's okay. Don't worry. Pretty soon, it's all going to be right. The world will actually be a safer place for once. When it's all said and done, you'll realize that we put our faith in the right people. You just need to have a little bit of faith here." I gently poked the area over her heart, smiling as gently as I could with the circumstances.

"No, that's not--" She was cut off by the jolting of the vehicle, sending all of us inside through the air for a moment. Yae cried out in pain upon landing, and I shot a look at the driver through the rear-view mirror.

"Asshole! Let that happen again, and I'll make sure that you can walk to Shade. Got it?"

"Yes, Boss." The driver said with a hint of resentment, making sure not to make eye-contact with me. The other glanced sideways at him, earning a snap from me as well.

"What the hell is your problem? You got something that you want to say, too?"

"No, Boss." He said in a tone higher than his driver counterpart, not daring to correct me with the fact that the previous offender had not offended me with words at all. I had taught my flock better.

The altercation over, I turned my attention back to Yae. She had a peaceful look about her, eyes closed and head slumped off to the side. Her eyelid twitched for only a moment before she was back to total restlessness. At first, I thought that the shock of the turbulence had killed her. I was relieved, however, to see that she had in fact fallen asleep (or perhaps fainted. I was just happy that she was even alive).

"How far out are we from Shade?" I called out, getting a curt, "3 minutes."

"Alright. Here's what you're going to do. Drop me off there. Get her to a hospital, and you better hope to the gods that she gets there alive. If she isn't, so help me, I will hunt you both down and put your heads on a pike." I tensed up as I threatened them, rage boiling inside with the uncontrollable urge to release it on whoever was near. All I got was the usual "Yes, ma'am." which served to enrage me more, at the lack of a proper catalyst with which I could explode. My eyes lowered to a bleeding Yae in my arms, enraged that the monstrous Scarlatina and her friends were capable of committing such atrocious acts in cold blood. With each passing moment, I began to understand why Watts had advised me to kill her the first chance that I got. If I had listened, then Yae would not be gripping herself, holding onto the bars of this world in a losing battle to stay out of the next. The sound of her voice calmed me, ever so slightly, only for a moment.

"Don't let your heart be clouded by hate." She mumbled, obviously not expecting a reply. I stroked her pink hair, shushing her ever so softly. "It's going to be alright. Just, don't waste any energy talking. If you die, I'm going to kill you." I joked, hoping that she wouldn't actually fall asleep, knowing fully well that could be dangerous for someone in her condition. As a precuation, I continued to talk to her, begging for responses. I was interrupted only by a swear passing the lips of the driver of the vehicle. He swerved in the sand, almost causing us to roll over. "Hey, what the he--Oh, damn it to the gods!"

I didn't even need to hear a response. I could see the Grimm from a mile away, a feline-esque shape that was over seven meters long and ten meters tall. "We don't have time for this crap! Look, you two take her and get to a hospital near Shade. You get any guff, you make sure to tell them just who you're working for."

"What about you, Boss?"

"Hey! Did I ask for any backtalk? Now go!"

There was no more discussion, as I had taught my crew well in that particular regard. I popped my neck as I unsheathed my saw. The urge hit me to employ my Semblance, but i brushed them off like a model with her cravings. I knew that I wouldn't need to use it unless it really hit the fan, and, if things went how I thought they would, there'd be no need.

"How's it hanging, you ugly bastard?" I shouted out to the Grimm before me. I knew that he couldn't understand me, and I guess that gave me some sort of gratification? I knew I was in total control of that particular playing field, while the red-eyed creep across the way turned its head towards me.

I let out a silent breath of relief as the beast slunk low to the ground, placing the undivided attention that filled its mind (or what could pass for it) on me. A smirk passed my lips for no reason other than the satisfaction that I would be able to quell my thirst for blood (even if I couldn't drink this kind. I'd had a hankering to spill some over the past few days. Scarlatina and her friends, as pissed off as it makes me, are extremely hard to kill.) I've been needing something to take my stress out on, and the standard of crop of painkillers just haven't been doing it. This...thing had no idea just what world of hurt I was about to put it in, but, ya know, all in good time.

It loud a bellowing roar, a cowl around its neck expanding as it bared its fangs to me. The mental image of such a part of the Grimm's anatomy hanging on one of my mantles someplace made my heart flutter, but I refused to let myself stray too far from the task at hand of taking this thing's head off. Goosebumps of anticipation ran down my body as my eyes registered the sight of this Grimm (I didn't know what it was called, as I'd never seen one before and I didn't give a damn. All that took priority for me was how fast I could kill it.)

I let out a cackle and sprinted towards the Grimm ( _I think I'll call this one Tigris_.), twirling the handle of my saw in-between the spaces of my fingers. When it was within striking distance, the Grimm swiped at me with its oversized paw. I leapt in the air and made myself as small as I could, barrel-rolling with the wind of the swiping paw under me. Landing in a crouch, I rushed at the attacking appendage before it had even finished its own attack, tossing my saw in the air over it. Executing a flawless flash-step, I clutched my saw once more and thrust it down into some tender Tigris. My eardrums nearly busted from being in such close vicinity to a cry of agony that loud. "Oh? Didn't like that?" I looked up as the Tigris locked its fiery red eyes down at me.

 _C'mon, jag-off. Use that mindless brain of yours and do what I know you're wanting to_.

Milliseconds later, one set of claws was digging into another paw where seemingly-oblivious prey had once been. Said prey had already taken to clawing her way up to the nape of the Tigris' neck. Now, I wasn't stupid. I knew that a saw of my own would break before getting through Grimm skin. As I had done before, I used what the good Doctor gave me and resorted to more...organic measures. I dug my nails into the Tigris' back and bit down. The freak of nature bucked like a horse, causing me to only dig deeper into his white and black flesh. Keeping one hand dug in, I laid my hand on my sheathed saw, using its teeth to sink down into the exposed section of the Tigris' body. I hacked, and didn't stop until I hacked away at the nerves that enabled movement of the Grimm. Of course, it was all black, so there was no sure way of knowing such part of their anatomy even existed. That didn't stop me from trying.

Now, I couldn't tell you exactly what I did. I just hacked away at that area until I made one last cut that sent the thing to the floor--sand--whatever. I leapt down, and walked in front of the Tigris to stare him down. It groaned silently, its legs twitching as it tried futilly to rise again. The breath leaving its lungs had become shallow, a sign to me that my foe was near its end. Although my victory gave way for the confidence surge through me, it was short-lived. I knew that it was a hollow triumph, and that my true victory laid ahead still.

I stroked the main of the Tigris as it made its final journey to wherever these things went after they kicked it. It flinched under my hand, but seemed to accept it couldn't move. The thought crossed again to skin the beast, but I decided to let the opportunity pass me by. The fight alone had taken the edge off of my stress, for now.

 _Besides, I have bigger fish to fry. Rabbits, rather._ I thought as the Tigris began to fade. I pondered which way Shade academy was. Soon after, I dubbed myself a dunce at the realization I could merely follow the faint tracks in the sand left from my counterparts. My journey was coming to a close, and, for the first time, I questioned if it would end in my favor. I had so many plans in place, but so many other things could go wrong. For once, I wasn't one-hundred percent sure Honey Ratel could pull it off.

"Oh, you're good, Scarlatina."


	24. The Velveteen Faunus Volume 2 Chap 24

Shade's too far away, Velvet. We'll never make it over there on foot. And I'm going to wager that Dew wasn't so kind as to leave her little car here for us to use. What are we going to do?"

For a time, Velvet was numb. She didn't want to look at the bodies, but at the same time, she couldn't bring herself to look away. Her face was overcome with a blank expression that successfully concealed her take on the dire turn that their journey had taken. It was several seconds before she realized that she had dropped to her knees, and that Kandase was desperately calling out to her. She would not leave her shell until Kandase's large hands tightly gripped Velvet's shoulders. The force of Velvet being rocked back and forth by her friend to tear her out of her trance nearly sent her onto her back.

"Velvet! Snap the hell out of it!"

At a crawling pace, Velvet tilted her head up to meet the gaze of her emerald-eyed friend. She had not seen her with such a look of concern since their time together within the ranks of The White Fang. She had a thousand thoughts spiraling through her near-shattered mind, but she hadn't the heart to share these rapid, yet provocative cogitations with Kandase. Rather, she simply met her friend with lifeless eyes.

"We have to move, Velvet! It's not safe here. Ratel's goons are probably going to be swarming this place when they wake up! C'mon!" She tugged at the dead weight that had filled Velvet, to little avail. "Velvet! Ratel is on the move, doing crap only the gods know! We need to move before the body count rises. Now isn't the time!"

As if involuntarily, Velvet felt a pair of words pass over. "No more."

"Yeah, no more dead kids. That's not gonna be the case if we don't move! We can mourn later, but after we make sure that Ratel doesn't hurt anyone else."

"No more fighting, Kandase. How do we know what we're doing will work? How do we know that we won't fail? That this will change anything?"

Velvet was sent flying to the floor as the back of Kandase's hand struck her cheek. That served to bring her out of her trance-like state. She looked up to meet the fingertip of her enraged friend. "Don't you ever say some crap like that again. I know that I'm your friend, but I will not stand by and let you make this about yourself." A deep breath, Velvet could see, to recompose herself. "Velvet. I know that this is hard. Believe it or not, I've been where you've been. It nearly wrecked me. You're wondering, 'Why me? Why do I have to risk my neck and see the worst of mankind just to save the skins of people that I've never met? Where's the payoff?' Well, V, I'll be honest. There's no tangible payoff. I learned that one a long time ago. It's in something different, and I don't think you've seen it yet, but you will. It's the feeling that you get when you look into the eyes of someone that you've saved, and know that they'll go home to their families, hug and kiss them, and wonder if it's destiny that they go on living. After doing this 'hero' business for a while, you wonder if there's something more. Maybe you're a tool in a bigger plan that will come together at some point. The truth is, you don't know. You just go on saving people, seeing them go home, trying to live with the people that you couldn't get to in time."

"What's your point?" Velvet said exasperatedly, fighting her inevitable realization that Kandase was right.

Kandase sighed. "My point is that we don't get the luxury to pick and choose when we save. It's written in our moral code, in our abilities. It's our responsibility to go out and use our skills to make the world a better place. We're of a kind, Velvet. This is our burden to bear, so others don't have to. And after you save enough people, it doesn't seem like a burden so much as a gift to live up to your fullest. After all, what more rewarding occupation is there?"

Before Velvet had finished listening to Kandase, she already turned away from the bodies (it was beginning to make her nauseous to even think about the dead children that they were sharing the room with.) "How much do you weigh?" She struggled to keep from breaking down or gagging. It was a war within to keep her composure, to give the impression that she was stronger than she actually was in that moment.

 _Or any moment._

Kandase ignored Velvet's refusal to respond, and kept on with the current topic at hand.

"Why do you need to know? What are you thinking?" Velvet turned again to see her friend with her arms crossed over her chest, a suspicious look coming over her. Her expression hardened, and she turned a stiff finger towards her friend. "This has something to do with that Semblance of yours, doesn't it?"

"Uh, yeah. Can we get out of here?" She abruptly requested. Kandase passed a sorrowful glance over to the bodies, and agreed. "Yeah. We're wasting time just standing here, talking. Once we get in contact with one of my people here in Vacuo, a crew can be put together that deals with this kind What is it that you're thinking of doing? Or, I should probably ask what you can do."

As the pair began to sprint out of the tomb, Velvet turned back to her friend, looking her up and down. "That all depends on whether or not I can carry you."

*

"Hey, watch where your hands are at! That rule goes for everyone." Kandase threatened as Velvet kept her hands wrapped tight around her waist. For her own sake, she refused to look directly below her at the sand dunes that they swiftly passed over. At the same time, she struggled to keep her focus on the city on the horizon as well as keeping Kandase from falling. To her best knowledge, the city in the distance was Shade's capital, with the threatened combat academy hidden away within its borders. She hadn't the heart to tell her friend below that she had no genuine idea where she was going, so she rode along in silence, initially. Velvet soon realized that this was not the most ideal plan, thanks to the massive psychological shock that she had endured and the lack of coping time she had been given. While Kandase's logic was near-infallible, Velvet was still knowledgeable enough about her own mind to know that the approach that was taken was one of the least healthy. While she feared for her own sanity in the long run, she was prepared to finish the job at hand, even if it meant paying no mind to the jarring images that were busily burrowing into her mind.

"Velvet."

"Yeah?" The sound of her own name startled her.

"We're gonna get her."

"I know. I promised myself that I wouldn't let her get away. There's too many things at stake to let her simply walk away. She…she has to answer for what she's done." Velvet wasn't quite sure if she was saying this for Kandase's benefit or her own. It was a question she didn't know the answer to, nor one that she wanted to know for the time being.

 _There's a time and place for all of this, Velvet. Now is not that time, nor the place._

"Hey, Velvet. Are we getting close?"

Velvet squinted, gazing across the barren desert landscape at the distant black pocks on the surface that were the scarce cities of Vacuo. She pondered whether or not any of these cities would be the one she sought. She employed her superior vision to see the most optimal direction to go, and managed to catch sight of a black vehicle that resembled the ones that Ratel's crew had been known to drive. Impulsively, Velvet began to fly in that direction, but stopped herself when she came to the realization that there was an individual trekking through the desert.

There you are. Velvet thought with a surge of enraged confidence, descending just as Ratel reached the city gates. Velvet swore under her breath as she witnessed this, shifting her hands to get a better grip around Kandase's waist.

"You saw that, too, didn't you?" Kandase inquired.

"Yeah. Wait, how were you able to see it so far away?"

"Special contacts." Kandase blurted, striking Velvet as something that she was not meant to know, but she kept it to herself.

Now is not the time to be prying, Velvet. Now's not the time for a great many things.

"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's end this." Velvet mumbled, not in any mood for a rallying speech or one-liner like a hero in a movie or television show. She was in no mood for celebrating once this was over, or reveling in the job-well-done that was not to be found in her eyes. All Velvet wanted to do in that moment was finish the job at hand, so she could go home and rest before the next one. She knew that the Parthenon was still at large, but she hadn't the heart to pursue them then. Selfish as she might have felt, Velvet wanted to be held by her mother and reassured that everything was going to be okay. She didn't want to be treated like a warrior-for-hire that was meant to fight other people's battles for reasons that they didn't explain. Velvet wanted to be a normal teenage girl, if only for a day.


	25. The Velveteen Faunus Volume 2 Chap 25

_**PART 3: CHILD'S PLAY**_

Velvet did not voice her concerns so as to not alarm Kandase, but she had taken a notice to the fact that they were allowed to land with no consequence. No alarms had been triggered, no guards had been dispatched to intercept the interlopers. The air was deathly silent, save for the wind tearing across the sandy dunes around them. It put Velvet on edge, but she tried with little success to steady herself.

"There's an ambush coming. Just when I thought this day couldn't get interesting enough." Kandase observed with a dry chuckle to follow, as if her own quip had failed to capture the heart of its deliverer. This transparency only gave Velvet's anxiety more reason to flourish, for she knew that she now could be certain that she was not the only one who had taken notice of the anomaly in their surroundings.

"I don't suppose we're going to just waltz in and let come what may?" Velvet asked, trying her best to put on a brave face amidst the horrors that her and her friends had been exposed to in the last several days. It didn't work for her, but it did for Kandase, who had surely seen twice as many of these horrendous (if not worse) crimes against humanity and nature over the course of her career within Ozpin's forces. She couldn't help but feel slightly reassured at Kandase's narrow smile as they crept quickly, but carefully, across the open dunes towards the city walls.

Velvet knew not the name of the city that enclosed Shade Academy (she wasn't always the most diligent in reviewing her notes, be it in the classroom or the field). All that filled her mind was the idea of what Honey Ratel was plotting inside, or what she had already set in motion. She thought of that, and she was thinking of what she would do the next time she laid eyes on Ratel. A fire still burned in her heart, one that threatened to make a hypocrite of her and swallow her with rage. Without a doubt, Velvet was dealing with a murderer, one who clearly had no qualms about killing innocents in order to achieve whatever twisted goals she hoped to achieve.

These were children, Velvet. Some of them barely entering combat school. Don't forget that.

She vowed to herself, over and over again, that she would allow no more blood to be spilt. Ratel, whatever rationale she had given herself, would not be allowed to succeed. There was so much at stake here, Velvet could hardly even grasp the gravity of who this affected. For some reason that Velvet could not fathom (aside from insanity), Ratel was obsessed with the notion that creating a Grimm-Human hybrid would somehow bring peace between the two races, when, in reality, it would only cause—

"Panic." Velvet muttered under her breath, stopping just short of the large, gaping arch in the village's stucco wall that served as an unguarded entrance. Kandase noticed out of the corner of her eye and turned back to see what was the matter.

"What is it, Velvet?"

"It's Watts. He's using Ratel, and she doesn't even know it, I think."

"What makes you say that?"

"When I talked to her, Ratel's intentions were pure. I'm sure you picked up on that from the video we saw. Her method is flawed, however. When I found my first lead here in Vacuo, he put it out that Watts was the main backer for this project, apparently supplying the resources that Ratel needed. Ratel wants nothing to do with creating chaos. She wants to bring the world together and bring an end to violence. She's so immersed in her own crusade that she didn't bother to check up on who was really running things behind her back. She's in trouble."

Kandase cocked an eyebrow, crossing her arms. "So now, you're concerned that the _killer_ is getting played. Wait, but if she's getting played, then she's playing into Watts' and Salem's hands. They're going to use her quest for peace…as a crusade of carnage. Velvet, why are we standing here? We need to find her and stop her before she makes a mistake for all of us!" Without waiting for Velvet, Kandase bolted in the direction that the two could see the steeple of Shade Tower over the smaller buildings around them, constructed from clay blocks in a manner that was considerably more impressive than the other villages she had seen. They almost matched the storefronts and homes in Vale, aside from the building materials used to keep these ornate structures standing. She almost stopped to take a photo, but she immediately shook away the thought, reminding herself of the bigger tasks at hand.

The duo cleared the distance between their previous location and the school. Velvet couldn't help but stand in awe at the massive entrance. The dirt beneath their feet was replaced by cobblestone, and the interconnected buildings around them were now of multicolored marble. The main building of the campus, Kandase and Velvet's destination, was the most impressive. The top of the tower in the center of the building spiraled upwards into the clouds, each spiral an alternating shade of red and yellow. Around the base of the tower was the first location that Velvet intended to search for Ratel (it seemed like her, Velvet thought, to arrange whatever she had planned in the most significant building on the grounds of Shade.)

"Kandase." Velvet said to attract her friend's attention. "She's going to be in there."

The two slowed ever so slightly, only to begin sprinting across the grounds seconds later. "You sound awfully confident of yourself. What brought that on?"

"A hunch."

"Well, I'll take it. With as much of a bind we're in, we don't have many options. I just hope you're right."

 _Me, too_.

Kandase, without stopping, reached her index and middle finger into one of her pouches and removed a knife that Velvet immediately recognized as one that contained an explosive material. Velvet looked back to the iron door that would provide entrance into the building of Shade Tower. She took to piecing together what her friend had in store, then began mentally questioning Kandase's train of thought. "Kandase, that's a pretty big metal door. Are you sure that you're going to get through it with just one?"

Kandase slowed her pace to a heavy jog, looking down at her single throwing knife in pensive thought. "Huh, you're right. Welp, might as well use three!"

Velvet looked on in surprise as Kandase drew an additional two knives from the same pouch and held them in the spaces between her fingers. "Aren't you concerned about the jagged metal that's going to fly everywhere?"

"Well, I've had my shots. Hope the bad guys did, too." Kandase sprinted, then spun in the air, releasing her blades in succession within a total of three pirouettes off the ground. The trio hit their mark, letting off three massive explosions that tore apart the etched metal door, sending heated pieces of metal flying both into and around the building's interior. Velvet ducked as red-hot pieces of metal soared overhead, but ceasing to relent her advance until Kandase and herself were at the gaping hole that would give them passage into the building.

"Wow. That actually worked." Velvet observed, not bothering to hide her awe.

"Of course it did. I'm me. Now, let's find Ratel and put a stop to all of this."

Velvet concurred, and the two carefully circumvented the heated metal edges of the gaping hole in the center of the iron door. The lower-most part of the hole was just high enough that Velvet had to perform a hop into the air just so she could avoid burning herself or being cut by the metal several centimeters below her.

She immediately made note of the pair of spiral staircases that crossed the opposite side of the hall and extended up to a balcony(identical in design to the entrance of Ratel's hideout, Velvet realized.) that overlooked the lower level and spiraled further through the ceiling to the tower above. From there, her eyes lowered down to three identical gates under the balcony and on either sides of the stairs. There were large, iron gates raised over each of the entries. Large, iron bolts held the gates together, with elongated pointed metal rods would certainly ensure the safeguarding of whoever was caught behind their bars.

 _But why?_ Velvet couldn't shake the feeling that she would soon answer her own question. She hated it when that happened.

Kandase, with her massive height, was able to simply step through the hole and emerge on the other side with her hands on her hips, admiring the architecture inside. "It's been too long since I've been in this place."

"You've been here before?" Velvet asked, tilting her head and successfully pushing away her sense of dread, for the time being.

"Yeah, an old friend of mine goes to school here, not sure if he still does. You might know him. He's pretty close with that Belladonna friend of yours. And I'm one of the people that Ozpin trusted to make sure that a special artifact was taken care of here. A relic."

Two people and a particular relic that all of her time at Beacon made familiar came to Velvet's mind, but she hardly had time to ask. A familiar voice rang through the open hall they stood in. Velvet and Kandase's eyes raised to meet the gaze of the woman who was standing above them on the other end of the hall at the center of a twin staircase that spiraled all around the room: Honey Ratel.

"You bitches sure know how to make an entrance." Ratel shouted, no ounce of humor in her voice. "Seems like causing damage is all you know how to do, Scarlatina, or maybe it's just your ginger bimbo friend."

"Wow. She's got some creative language." Kandase observed, apparently not fazed in the slightest at the insults directed towards her.

"Ratel, listen to us!" Velvet called out, ignoring Kandase. "You're making a mistake, we—"

"Oh, for crap's sake, get off your stupid soapbox! People like you always made me sick. You act like, just because you decided to go the hero route, you get to dictate how other people live their lives. Well, you know what? I may not be going the most pure route like you, your highness, but at least my way gets results! At least my way is making the world a better place! Can you people say the same?"

"Velvet, this chick is starting to piss me off. Can I hit her now?"

"No, Kandase. We just have to work with her. If she engages, then we do. We don't throw the first punches, got it?"

"Fine."

"I'm not stupid! I can see you making a plan! Well, guess what? You're too late. I've already planned ahead. Everything has been put into place. You're not subjecting the innocents to a life of conflict any more!"

"Who did it, Ratel?" Kandase interjected, garnering a disgusted response from her intended audience.

"Not that it's any of your business, but Dr. Watts. He's more of a genius than you two could ever hope to be. That's why he's on the right side of things. He knows what has to be done."

"Yeah. By screwing you over."

"Piss off, monster."

"You're confused, Honey. You need to see what's going on here. I've been where you're at, and I know that there's not much time left for you to walk away from this. Do the real right thing, not what everyone else tells you is." Velvet could tell that Ratel knew what was coming out of Kandase's mouth was making sense. Velvet could also tell that Ratel was doing her best to talk the sense coming in, out.

"You know what you are? You're a killer and a liar. Normally, I don't stoop down to your breed's level, but I'm gonna enjoy it this time." She took one step onto the balcony's ledge and somersaulted in the air, then disappeared in a flash. Velvet's hair prickled, as she knew what was coming. Her eyes rested on Kandase, who hadn't seemed to register Ratel's disappearance. Velvet leapt in front of her friend, quite sure she was about to die. Then she heard the voice of Dew in her ear.

"Just gonna lay down and die, huh? Just fuck that training, eh? You know what to do. Hold your breath. Concentrate. Where's the bitch coming from?"

Velvet closed her eyes. Time seemed to slow down around her. She felt Ratel's presence in this state like a rush of air across her face. All she needed to do was find where the air was rushing out fastest around them.

 _Breathe, Velvet. Where is she?_

It struck her like a hurricane. She focused a part of her Aura into her fist and wound back. When Velvet opened her eyes again, she found herself face-to-face with Ratel, moving in slow-motion. Velvet thrust her charged fist forward, watching as it connected with the tip of Ratel's nose and sliding down to her upper lip. Ratel let out a sharp cry of pain that caused Velvet to flinch, elongated as time lurched back to normal around Velvet. It was the closest Velvet could get to using Velvet's ability without having the Semblance.

Ratel flew across the room, flying back onto his rolling vertically like a log. Kandase took a step to close the gap between herself and Ratel, but Velvet held an extended arm over her chest to stop her advance. In that same instance, Velvet felt a familiar ally join her to her left, lean in and whisper. "You may be a shitty leader, but you're one hell of a powerhouse. Wonder what other tricks you got inside you." Dew whispered.

 _Yeah. Me, too._

"Velvet, what are you doing?" Kandase questioned, refusing to acknowledge Dew's arrival, and throwing down Velvet's arm just enough that no real damage could be inflicted. "We need to end this. We have a chance to do it here and now."

"No. If we do it now, then there's no point. She needs the chance to learn the error of her ways. If we simply lock her up now, we lock up her hate for us inside her. And that's not a sentence I'm willing to deal her."

Ratel rose to all fours. Her mouth and nose were covered with blood, and a spit produced three teeth covered in crimson. Velvet's ears rang as Ratel let out a primal yell. "You ass! You knocked my teeth out!" She lisped, tears dripping from the corners of her eyes as she forced herself to stand, and assume a shell of her fighting position. She reached for her saw, but seemed shocked when she found that there was no holstered weapon there. Her eyes fell on Dew, as Velvet and Kandase's did. Dew was smugly twirling Ratel's saw in the air with the hand that wasn't supporting her drawn staff. "Huh, this is actually pretty cool. Guess I'm playing 'schoolyard bully' and keeping this."

To Velvet's shocked surprise, Ratel smiled. She let out a bloodcurdling laugh, one that voiced the shattering of the mind and soul. "You think I need some saw to kill the three of you? Get a grip. I have one more little trick up my strap." From the space between her calf and bootstrap, Ratel produced a syringe identical to the one she had her gangsters use on the children from the video Velvet and Kandase had forced themselves to watch in the desert. Velvet tensed, trying poorly to hide her fear once she realized what it was that Ratel was about to do to herself. She almost didn't catch the syringe being knocked out of Ratel's hand by a throwing knife that was nothing more than a blur, even to Velvet.

Ratel looked at the black liquid seeping through her fingers, and the small shards of glass that had made their way into her skin. She let out a small, exasperated sigh, crossing over her lips that had a crooked smile, one of a woman who had nothing left to lose; nothing left to gain. Her heels scuffed the floor as she turned to face the trio, Kandase in particular. She raised a single bloody finger and shot it at Kandase. "You bitch! You seriously won't let me have this, will you? You try to kill my friends, you try to stand in the way of progress just because I was the only one willing to get my hands dirty! And now you go and screw with me here. Why don't you just—"

"Cripes, I don't even want to kill you anymore. You're so damn dense—" Dew took a step towards Ratel, spear raised, but was halted by the sound of a booming voice that echoed throughout the room.

"Dense is the word I would use as well."

Everyone gazed around the room to locate the speaker, but it seemed only Kandase and Honey needed no visual aid. One face softened, and the other hardened. Both of them spoke the same name, with levels of enthusiasm on opposite sides of the emotional spectrum.

"Watts."

"In the flesh!" Watts affirmed. "Well, not entirely, actually. I'm there in spirit! Just watching you girls have out your little squabble on a nice little monitor in…well, you needn't know that."

"Good gods, Arthur. Could you have said that any more creepily?" Kandase asked with a shudder. "I knew you couldn't keep your hands off the relic." She mumbled under her breath.

"Hey! Last I remember, you still had me to worry about! I can take you three. I—" Kandase and Ratel advanced towards each other. For every step Ratel took, Kandase took two. Kandase popped her neck and cracked her knuckles, her all-too-familiar smirk making an appearance once more.

"Oh, give it a rest, child. You're terrible about overestimating your abilities. From the moment I met you." Ratel stopped to look up at the ceiling, addressing Dr. Watts as "Arthur" with a concerned tone. Kandase didn't, and addressed Ratel with a left hook to the jaw. Ratel fell once more, falling to her stomach. Kandase pinned her with her arm behind her back, resting a knee on the small of her back.

"Well, that was anticlimactic." Dew observed, gazing around the room and crossing her arms.

"Too true." Velvet mumbled, craning her neck in every possible direction, searching for enemies that were supposed to be there. "Where are her troops? Where are the Grimm tamers?" She called out to Watts.

"The _what_?" Ratel exclaimed, confirming Velvet's suspicions.

"Ah, this is where I must bid you lovely ladies goodbye. Miss Ratel, your service is greatly appreciated. You, yourself, are not."

"Arthur, what is she talking about? _Who_ is she talking about?"

"Well, I suppose I may as well play the trope and tell you. Perhaps this will serve as a life lesson to you, one of the last. If someone offers you the chance to make all of your dreams come true while only asking for resources in return, it's probably too good to be true. It's a shame that a child like you had to learn such a basic lesson with so much loss of perfectly good slaves and servants. But not all is lost."

"I bet it's not, while you're thinking the relic is here." Kandase breathed, much to Velvet's confusion. No one else heard, nor did they hear Ratel.

"Child?" Ratel repeated the single word under her breath, her spirit broken.

Velvet looked up, partially to find a camera or speaker, while in part out of habit. "What are you planning, Watts?"

"Now, now. I'd be a fool to let slip the endgame. Your friends traveling to Atlas will need to worry about that all too soon. You, however, will not be leaving this academy. I will help see to that. Miss Ratel, thank you for making all of this possible. And let me just say: you're as much as a fool as your father was. The two of you have as much scientific knowledge as I do in a fingertip. Your foolishness and naivety has been most invaluable. I suppose it would be gentleman-like of me to inform you that what you were suggesting is not scientifically possible, nor will it ever be. Goodbye, ladies."

"Arthur, wait. Arthur!" Ratel squirmed, making a vain attempt to slide out from under Kandase's mass. Kandase pressed herself down more onto her prey, placing a firm hand on the nape of Ratel's neck.

"That son of a—" Kandase was cut off by the familiar, terrifying sound of several Grimm roaring. Echoing throughout the hall, it caught the attention of all the room's inhabitants. "Velvet, where's that coming from? What direction?" Kandase asked, turning (as Dew did, a moment later.)

Velvet's answer struck dread and fear into her heart. "Everywhere."

"What do you mean, everywhere?" Dew asked with an accusatory tone, her expression making it evident that she was skeptical of Velvet's abilities.

Velvet wished she was wrong, that her ears would have failed her, that there would only be a single beast amplified, or none at all. She wished against what she knew to be true.

In a matter of seconds, hordes of Grimm (almost every kind of Grimm that Velvet had come across in her travels) quickly filled the room and surrounded the quartet of Huntresses. Velvet spotted Beowolves, Ursas, smaller Nevermores, Creeps, and an Okinaba. Kandase, quickly weighing the odds, hefted Ratel up from the floor and dusted her off. "Can we trust you not to slit our throats while our backs are turned?" Velvet asked just before demanding Dew return her saw.

Ratel scoffed. "If I kill any of you, that's going to make what comes after this even harder. Besides, it seems that the rare occasion has come across when someone has played me. I don't know who or what to trust at the moment. That includes you all."

Kandase shrugged. "I can get behind that. Alright, Velvet. What are we doing?"

It seemed commonplace for Velvet's life to be threatened lately, so it was puzzling to her why it was that she was so scared.

 _It's just like how Father died. This was how it all ended for him._

"Get into a square. We all cover a corner, and try not to get overwhelmed, because there's no guarantee we can bail each other out. Got it?" Velvet was surprised at how she sounded giving out such a firm command, and even more so when the others obeyed.

The four assumed the proper positioning. The horde of Grimm slowly began closing the gap around them. Velvet's anxiety shot through the roof, so she did what she knew best. She concentrated, and she breathed.

"Guys. Remember your training. Semblance use on a need-to basis. Do what you do best. Let's all go home." Was all that Velvet could muster.

 _Not very inspiring._

"C'mon, you guys! What's with all the doom and gloom? This is supposed to be fun! So let's make it fun!" A Creep dove at Velvet, prompting her to wind back and slam her knuckles into the beast's snout.

In an instant, Velvet and the others found themselves swarmed. Against her better wishes, she was forced to resort to using her Semblance in order to combat the Grimm. She found herself a pattern of using physical attacks for two Grimm, and a Semblance attack for a third.

 _Okay, breathe. You start going blind, you're dead. Who's next? You._

Velvet summoned a battle axe, twirling it over her head. She beheaded an Ursa to her right, then leaping into the air to split the head of an Alpha Beowolf in two. She hopped on the carcass as it fell to the floor, running down the length of its back. Out of the corner of her eye, Velvet saw a Nevermore priming an attack towards her, its wings expanding a telltale sign. Velvet propelled herself off of the body, meeting the Nevermore midair.

She gripped its neck and twirled herself behind the creature, out of firing range, just as it began projecting its razor-sharp talons. Velvet pointed the bird-like creature downwards to avoid hitting her friends. The talons rained down like bullets on the Grimm, downing a dozen of assorted types in one fell swoop. When the Nevermore registered what was happening, and ceased firing its talons, Velvet used one hand to summon a hunting knife to plunge into its abdomen. As the creature was dissolving, and both were falling, Velvet gripped the Grimm by the neck and utilized it as a weapon all its own, clearing a landing area so that she could formulate the next phase of her attack. As her own targets were flying through the air, she let her eyes wander for a moment to see how her friends were faring.

Dew was caught impaling an Ursa with her spear and (to Velvet's surprise) lifting the creature high overheard and slamming it down into a Griffon attempting to ascend in the air. She slid her spear out in a fluid motion and booted away a Boarbatusk that came too close for her liking. Dew spun her spear in air and created a vortex around her that lifted all of the smaller Grimm in her area into the air. Her hands flung the spear down, causing a second gust of wind to thrust the creatures into the wooden floor below them, putting nearly all of her enemies out of commission, with only a handful of Ursa, Beowolves, avian variations of Grimm such as Lancers and Nevermores, and another, cat-like Grimm that Velvet had never seen before.

 _Why did they bring these animals here, and not use native Grimm? These beasts could never survive here on their own._

Velvet was beginning to turn to gaze upon Kandase when she heard her yell out, "V, duck!" Velvet obeyed the command, and was rewarded with the sight of a large Grimm (what type, she couldn't say) flying over her and crushing its comrades under its weight. "You're welcome!" Kandase shouted. It reminded Velvet of a similar action Kandase was fond of using on Grimm in Vale. Rising to her feet, Velvet reassumed her battle position, and her mind wandered for only a moment.

 _How did Kandase remember me right away in the desert? Did Ozpin's magic not work on her? Or is something else at play?_

The sound of bloodthirsty rage around her tugged Velvet back into the heat of battle. She focused once more, gauging the number of enemies around her, counting them. By her count, there were thirteen left. Velvet laid her eyes on a Beowolf who was setting to charge, tearing through the crowd of other Grimm around it, eagerly wanting to get its claws on Velvet. She formulated a plan, then sprung into action. If it worked, she knew, then she could successfully kill the remaining Grimm in her designated area with minimal damage to herself.

It was there that she began a technique she had not tried to execute in years, it seemed. She concentrated her Aura to the lower half of her legs, closing her eyes as the Beowolf closed the gap between them. The feeling of the Aura manifesting around her legs made her feel warm, like one would feel being the optimal distance from a heater. For safe measure, as she had learned to do as of recent, Velvet summoned a set of armored boots to protect her already armored feet from being seriously injured. She knew that performing this attack would drain her Aura, leaving her momentarily vulnerable. If this attack failed, there was a good chance that she would be killed.

 _Then again, when isn't that the case?_ Velvet thought with a chuckle in spite of herself. For the time being, her mind drifted from the jarring image of deceased children, but at the same time, it was there. Velvet was trying to push it away, but something that she could not understand refused to allow her to stop thinking about it for even a second. She hated it, but there was nothing that she could do about it. All she needed to worry about was staying alive, and keeping as clear a head as she could until there came a time when she could relax and not have to worry about her safety.

The Beowolf opened its jaws. Velvet knew that she would only have one chance, and she intended to make the most of it. When the distance was a single meter from being closed, Velvet reached out to grip the Beowolf's fangs as it lunged downward. She flung her legs up and connected with the underside of the Grimm's head, taking it off in a black mist. The body flung like a ragdoll upward as the other Grimm charged in a clump (just as Velvet had hoped. In the best times, they were pack animals to a fault) towards her.

Her gamble paid off. The headless Beowolf body flew through the air and sailed through the roof directly along the path of the charging beasts. The rubble fell, crushing all of them shortly before they reached Velvet. She hadn't realized that she had been holding her breath until now, and let out a relieved breath as she began to see the black mist emanating from the cracks in the wreckage. She turned first to face Ratel, who was holding up a Boarbatusk by its tusks, holding her head close to its temple. Velvet felt humbled in a morbid way when she realized that Ratel was soothing the beast as it dissolved into oblivion, as a slew of its brethren did in that same moment around them. When the beast faded away, Ratel took a deep breath, then lowered her head before rising again.

Kandase and Dew both were walking to join up with Velvet and Ratel. Velvet, still wary of Ratel and unwilling to let go of the fact that she was a mass-murderer, did not take her eyes off. Ratel noticed, and turned to face Velvet.

"Alright. So happens now? You get what you need out of me and cart me off to jail? Get your hero's justice?" Ratel said, throwing her saw down to the ground. Velvet noticed that the blood around her mouth and missing teeth had dried, giving the impression that she had just sucked blood.

"That depends on you. You gave yourself some credit here, I'll give that. But you're still a killer. Even if you were acting under false pretenses, your actions were still atrocious. So, I'll give you an ultimatum."

"Oh? Didn't take you for a bargainer, Scarlatina."

"No bargain. You only have two options here. Go to a prison someplace, rot for the rest of your life, maybe even be put to death."

"Hm. Sounds lovely." She said sarcastically, rolling her eyes.

"Option two: you come with us."

"Come with you? Where?"

"We're going after a dangerous group of individuals, people even worse than you."

"Hey, fuck you."

"Easy, Ratel." Velvet soothed as Kandase and Dew joined silently on either side of her. "We're giving you a chance here." She could feel her friends' eyes boring holes into her temples, but they stayed silent. "You come with us. We're going to fight against some very powerful people, and we think there's a lot of them. We're going to need all the help we can get. You come with us, manage not to kill anyone or suck their blood or do anything that forces us to kill you, then maybe we let you go free or give you a light time in prison."

Ratel let out a sigh. She put her hands on her head, turning away from Velvet and the others. "So, essentially, what you're telling me is either A) I go to prison for a crapton of time, maybe get axed, or B) I go on a suicide mission with you and your merry band of meatheads, where I might die anyway, and I might end up going to prison for a crapton of time anyway? I don't see the payoff here."

"Look, we're not happy about this either, but your ass isn't giving us very much to work with. Either way, we're not just letting you walk away. If you want," Dew explained, pointing her spear point at Ratel. "We can make this all go away right now."

"I suggest you put that down unless you intend to do some damage." Ratel dared. Dew jerked her spear to Ratel's cheek and stroked it down in a quick motion, drawing blood.

"Don't worry. I've got not qualms about bringing pain to the asshole that helped bring so much pain to my life."

"Ooooh. I like you." Ratel said with a smirk before turning back to Velvet. She smeared the blood across her cheek with her index finger. "Alright, so I gotta ask, Scarlatina. What exactly are we going up against?"

"All we know is that they're called The Parthenon. They're planning something similar to what Watts was planning on doing here. Speaking of, did you know what Watts was planning on having you do with that serum?"

Ratel scrunched her face, and shrugged. "I'm not sure. He told me that there would be subjects here to work with, and that he was going to be here. It seems now that he was just going to take the serum and run, taking care of me in the process."

"No, the serum wasn't his priority here." Kandase declared to herself, alerting the attention of but a single soul in the room. "Likely a diversion of some sort."

"You heard him. I'm an idiot." She said with a disheartened tone. Velvet almost pitied her. "There's nothing he's going to do with that crap, and there's nothing that I'm going to do, either. He just played me for my men and my resources. Look at this. I almost let him destroy my home. Maybe he's right." Ratel bowed her head, and let a stream of tears flow onto the wooden floor. "He told me what would happen if I failed, you know. I know for sure that he's a man of his word, and that means that he's going across all of Vacuo, killing all of my men, my boys. Even…Yae. That son of a bitch." Ratel rose her head again. "I'll help. I've got nothing left here to fight for. Nothing to live for."

"Hold on just a second. We're not letting you come with us until we know for certain that you're not just biding your time to kill us. Sure, you helped us out of a bind here, but how do we know you're not just letting out crocodile tears?" Kandase said with a scowl.

"There's no way that you can know that, not off the bat. I tried to get change, and it damn near got me killed. If my little monologue didn't convince you, then there's only one other way that I can prove it to you."

"How's that?"

"Well, it's a bit of a paradox," She turned to Velvet, who already knew what she was going to suggest. Velvet had come to the same conclusion herself. "Isn't it, Scarlatina?"

Velvet didn't like it, but it was the only option that she herself could live with. "It is. We can't bring you with us if we don't trust you, but the only way that you can earn our trust is if you come with us."

"You've gotta be kidding." Dew rolled her eyes and placed her face in her palm.

"No, I trust Velvet. We're going to need to keep an eye on her, but this seems to be the only way."

A smile of sincerity passed over Ratel's mouth, and she wiped away her tears. "I'll say it right now. I don't mind being cuffed until you feel like you can trust me enough."

"Fair point." Kandase quickly reached into her pocket and pulled out a pair of handcuffs just as fast as she slapped them on Ratel's wrists. "Welcome to the team, Honey."

Velvet crooked her finger, and looked to the floor, away from Ratel. "What are you thinking, V?" Dew asked, bending over in an attempt to meet Velvet's eyeline.

"I can't shake the feeling that just the four of us aren't going to be enough for the Parthenon. We may need to call in some backup for this one."

"Who do you suggest?"

"Well, from the way I've heard it, some of my friends are busy with their own issues someplace, but not all of them. I'll send a few letters to a few other friends of mine, see what they're up to. Dew, do you think you could—"

"No. I know what you're going to ask, and you know my rule. I'm not going to get my friends involved with any of this. If you cared about your friends, then you wouldn't call them, either."

Velvet smiled, raising her head, now filled with memories of an old friend gone by. "You know, I used to think the same way. But then, a very good friend of mine told me something that changed my whole perspective: 'If we want to fight for you, get hurt for you, or even die for you, then by the gods we'll do it. You're just going to have to deal with it, and let us fight with you when we can, because we're not going anywhere.' He was a good friend of mine, and those words never rang more true with me than they do now. So, I'm going to invite my friends. Not to abuse their love, but because I know that there's nowhere else they would rather be in my time of need than by my side."

Kandase put her hand around Velvet's shoulder. "You're damn right. I'll see if I can't arrange a bit of a reunion myself. Either way, ladies, we've got a full plate of psycho cult to power through."

Velvet nodded. She knew that she wasn't one for giving words of inspiration, or rather, thinking of them ahead of time. At the same time, Velvet had trouble trying to keep her mind on the future. It was near impossible to purge herself of the horrendous things that she was subjected to today and the few days previous. She reminded herself, again, that there would be a time for her to mourn the loss. Now, as she always did, Velvet looked at the world around her. She made herself focus not on who she had failed to save, but who still needed saving. Revitalized, she inhaled and exhaled deeply, and met the gaze of all the eyes on her.

"Alright. Let's go to work."


	26. The Velveteen Faunus Volume 2 Epilogue

_You guys have been so patient waiting for this book to wrap up (over a YEAR) that I knew I had to give you something worthwhile. The last two chapters to the second volume of Velvet's adventure! I especially enjoyed writing this one, just as I'm sure y'all are gonna love reading it! As much as it pains me to say it, however, Vol. 3 might not come out for a long while. Some personal matters have arisen and I;m going to be starting a new chapter of my life very soon. Rest assured, it will be coming, and I know I'll still have your support no matter how long it takes, be it 6 months or a year! Alright, I've gone one on long enough. I officially give you the finale of The Velveteen Faunus! Enjoy, and I'll catch you guys later!_

Ceril swirled the pint glass in front of him, passively swirling the honey-colored drink. His mind was numb as his eyes followed the foam that had taken refuge from the edges of the glass in the center of the beer. The drunken clamor around him was deafened by the pounding in his head and the rage in his heart. This was his second glass, the first a few centimeters away from the glass that he was currently trying to down. He was annoyed that he wasn't even buzzed yet (he wasn't ashamed to admit that he was a bit of a lightweight when it came to drinking. Normally a single pint could suit him for an entire night, but he could not numb emotions that had already rendered him numb himself. He raised his glass to take another sip, then took a deep breath.

A swell of emotions came over him again, so many that he could not accurately label which one was currently striking him. Despite his knowledge of the futility of his efforts, he would not yield. He had convinced himself that he would continue drinking until, one way or another, the pain went away. Ceril was so immersed in his emotions that he was physically taken aback by the sensation of a slender, feminine hand sliding down his shoulder. In tow was a familiar woman, one that he had met before.

"What the hell do you want?" He said, in no mood for formality.

"Hm. Mother told me that you would be in a…distressed emotional state. I offer my condolences for the loss of your sister." Her soft, monotonous voice brought her sincerity into question for Ceril, but he didn't care enough to press. He wanted only to be left in solitude once more.

"Why are you here?"

"I come with a proposition, Ceril Tisiphone, and a question."

"Yeah?" Through all the talking, Ceril had not once looked the strange girl's way. He now made a conscious effort of keeping his eyes forward on the spirits cabinet directly in front of him. Ceril raised his glass to his lips and let the cold liquid pass. The glass was placed down not-so-gently in front of him. There, he decided to throw this strange girl a bone and look her way. "Did your mommy send you all this way for that, too? Well, bad news. I'm in no mood to join your little cult. I just cut myself off from another gang, and I'm pretty content with my own god."

"I'll pretend that I didn't hear you refer to our family as a cult, boy. We are children, doing our mother's bidding. If she wishes to refer to our mother as a goddess, rightly so, she is allowed to. You may refer to her as the Snow Queen."

"Yeah, well, I won't refer to her as crap because I don't want anything to do with you. Now, I suggest that you two get out of here, or there's going to be trouble." Ceril bluffed. He was completely alone in the crowded bar, and he was certain no one would back him up if this tense situation went sour. He turned to find a darker individual with an identical hooded cloak that the woman to his right hid under. However, this one seemed all too eager to show his face to Ceril.

His right eye was glossed white, giving Ceril the impression that he was blind. However, his other eye was emerald green with a dark brown outline. The man's face was extremely dark, with black stubble on his chin and the top of his rippled head. Ceril could not see much of his body underneath the violet cloak that seemed to be standard issue among the cultists, but he could tell that where mass had failed him, broad shoulders had not. Ceril eyed him up and down, viewing that he donned worn, tan combat boots. In one look, he could tell that this stranger knew that he was lying.

"I suggest that you be polite to my sister, like I'd hope you'd be to any lady. Go on, Echo. I'm sure that this young man would like nothing more than to hear what you have to say."

Ceril turned back to see a sly smile creeping on the girl Echo's face for just a moment before she began again. "What do you desire most in this world?"

"That's your proposition? Not very much of a conversationalist, are we?" Ceril couldn't help but feel somewhat superior, and briefly considered making a snide comment involving her mother's apron. However, he could feel the bald individual's eyes (Eye. Ceril reminded himself) boring holes (a hole) in the back of his head. "Sorry. What were you saying?" He retracted in his own interest.

"Your greatest desire. What is it?"

"And don't beat around the bush, please." The man behind him instructed.

Ceril wheeled around. "Well, I'm sorry if I can't answer such a philosophical question on the spot. I've got to think about it."

"Or I can for you." Ceril flinched as he felt the woman's hand clasp around the nape of his neck. A chill rushed through his body, his soul, it seemed like. He didn't know how, but Ceril could have sworn that he felt her hands rummaging through the folds of his brain, scouring the deepest recesses of his mind. It was as if she was extracting his greatest fears, his biggest hopes, memories of his sister. "There you are. I've found it, Brother."

She removed her hand from his body, and Ceril shivered, just realizing that all of his body heat had been siphoned off during the duration of the invasion into his mind. "What did you do to me?"

The girl leaned over, close enough that Ceril could feel her warm breath on his ear, and she whispered. "I know what you desire, Ceril Tisiphone. I know what you want in you heart of hearts. Most men want money, power, physical prowess. But you are of a different breed. Yes, you want power, but a different kind. We can help you seek out who has wronged you, make them pay. Grant you all that you wish, for the small price of your allegiance to our mother."

Ceril scoffed, looking forward again. "Well, as tempting as that is, I got to say no. I'm not interested in joining a crew."

"She killed someone you love, didn't she?" An different male voice, behind him again, rasped. Again, Ceril wheeled around in his barstool, eyebrow cocked. "For the love of the gods, how many of you people are there?" Ceril questioned

"She did it, didn't she? Someone you loved trusted her, and she killed them."

A shiver shot down Ceril's spine. How did he know that? No. No, he couldn't be talking about Velvet. He hasn't said a name. Don't jump to conclusions, and don't give these jokers an inch. He stayed silent, but could feel himself stiffening with the rising tension.

"I don't know who you're talking about." He said in a calm tone that even he wasn't convinced by.

"Don't lie, kid. We know what you've been doing, who you've been hanging around with, and what's come of all that. I'm sorry that she hurt you, but I want you to know something: you're not the only one."

"What are you talking about?" Ceril let his guard down slightly.

"I had a son, not that you'd know that. I'd brought him up to be the man I wish I was, and taught him what it meant to protect, to hunt, to save people. His future was bright, before Velvet Scarlatina ran into his life and screwed it up. He told me that she needed help, that I'd be proud of him when he came back. My boy told me to trust me, and I did. He ran after her into those woods. She came out, and he didn't. For a time, I'd forgotten that it even happened, but I ran into someone who brought my memory back. She helped me, then she used me and abandoned me. That was when mother Gaia found me, and gave me a new purpose. She's given me reason to keep going, and I know that I'm not going to get screwed over here. Once Scarlatina's dead, I can rest, I'll get out, and I know that for a fact. I know that I can leave this little family, and you can, too. You get with us, do what we need to do, then we all win. You leave once our work is done, better off than you were before. In the process, you get more than you ever thought you wanted. We'll scratch your back if you scratch ours, essentially. Sound like a good deal? That's because it is. Now," This strange old man stepped forward, narrowing his eyes. "What's it going to be?"

Ceril dipped his head, considering the offer. They already knew everything about him, invading his mind to get there. While the one they called Echo had performed her magic, the other four had taken strategic positions around him. They'd given him no way to escape, but he wasn't sure if he wanted one.

Velvet had dragged him into her chaotic world and took the one thing he treasured away for her own goal. These people were promising him a path to fulfilling his greatest desire, and he knew that there was no way that he could do it on his own. It was an ends to a mean, and he didn't particularly care what happened in-between. He had nothing left, only his abhorrent heart.

He raised his stone-cold eyes to the old man's, and smiled.

 _(I decided that the fitting tie-in song, an end credits sort of deal to this, was 'Skeletons' by New Year's Day. It really inspired me in terms of direction and mood. Feel free to give a listen!)_


End file.
